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Hundreds of thousands of Greeks apply for 'social dividends' Hundreds of thousands of Greeks apply for 'social dividends'
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Hundreds of thousands of Greeks have applied for so-called "social dividends" that the government has vowed to hand out after recording a primary budget surplus – counted before interest payments.Hundreds of thousands of Greeks have applied for so-called "social dividends" that the government has vowed to hand out after recording a primary budget surplus – counted before interest payments.
The conservative-dominated coalition has predicted it will register a surplus of about €2.5bn, in figures due to be confirmed by the EU statistics office on Wednesday. The conservative-dominated coalition has predicted it will register a surplus of about €2.5bn (£2bn), in figures due to be confirmed by the EU statistics office on Wednesday.
It has promised benefits including a €500 "bonus" to low income pensioners and members of the police and security services, and by midday on Tuesday 225,000 had applied. It has promised benefits including a €500 "bonus" to low-income pensioners and members of the police and security services, and by midday on Tuesday 225,000 had applied.
A figure of €2.5bn would be more than three times the 800m the government had originally estimated, but almost all of the political opposition has argued that the notion of a primary surplus is a fiction cooked up by a government that has not only trimmed the books savagely but failed to include factors such as state debts to suppliers. A figure of €2.5bn would be more than three times the €800m the government had originally estimated, but almost all of the political opposition has argued that the notion of a primary surplus is a fiction cooked up by a government that has not only trimmed the books savagely but failed to include factors such as state debts to suppliers.
Ahead of crucial European and local elections in May, prime minister Antonis Samaras will attempt to make as much political mileage out of the achievement as possible. He has already vowed to return a full 70% to those Greeks most affected by the biting spending cuts and tax increases imposed since the start of the debt crisis. "We must help those most affected by the crisis, in order to give them a second chance," the leader said this month as the debt-stricken country prepared to borrow on the markets for the first time since its bailout by international lenders.Ahead of crucial European and local elections in May, prime minister Antonis Samaras will attempt to make as much political mileage out of the achievement as possible. He has already vowed to return a full 70% to those Greeks most affected by the biting spending cuts and tax increases imposed since the start of the debt crisis. "We must help those most affected by the crisis, in order to give them a second chance," the leader said this month as the debt-stricken country prepared to borrow on the markets for the first time since its bailout by international lenders.
"Our goal is to exit the crisis without leaving anyone behind," he said at the time."Our goal is to exit the crisis without leaving anyone behind," he said at the time.
Most of the benefits are expected to be distributed to low-income pensioners and members of the police and security services whose wages, in keeping with the vast majority of those employed in the public sector, have been cut dramatically over the past four years.Most of the benefits are expected to be distributed to low-income pensioners and members of the police and security services whose wages, in keeping with the vast majority of those employed in the public sector, have been cut dramatically over the past four years.
With barely a month before the double poll, the radical left main opposition Syriza party attacked the government saying the so-called surplus had been achieved with a surplus of unemployed and poverty stricken Greeks. With barely a month before the double poll, the radical-left main opposition Syriza party attacked the government, saying the so-called surplus had been achieved with a surplus of unemployed and poverty stricken Greeks.
Government spokesman Simos Kedigoglou hit back at Syriza and its leader Alexis Tsipras: "They bet on a catastrophe which never came and now they are distressed by the ever growing signs of exit from the crisis," he said in a statement. Government spokesman Simos Kedigoglou hit back at Syriza and its leader Alexis Tsipras. "They bet on a catastrophe which never came and now they are distressed by the ever growing signs of exit from the crisis," he said in a statement.