ATHENS (Sputnik) — Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis has sent a plan of seven key reforms to the Eurogroup’s president ahead of Monday’s meeting of Eurozone finance ministers.
In an 11-page letter to Eurogroup head Jeroen Dijsselbloem, made available Friday, Varoufakis suggests attracting non-professional inspectors, such as “students, housekeepers, even tourists” to help the country’s understaffed authorities curb tax evasion.
The Greek minister further suggests to reduce bureaucracy, “face the humanitarian crisis” by providing the poor with food stamps and shelter, improve legislation on tax arrears and budget preparation, and activate the Fiscal Council to act as an independent watchdog.
Varoufakis, economist and former private consultant for game development company Valve, assumed office as Greece’s new finance minister in January, representing the left-wing Syriza party.
Syriza has vowed to revise Greece’s highly unpopular austerity measures, aimed at meeting the bailout conditions set by international creditors in exchange for massive loans issued over the country’s sovereign debt crisis.
Greece's debt to the troika of creditors comprising the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund stands at over $260 billion.
