Austerity as seen from the streets of Athens
Eurozone finance ministers have decided to give Greece two more years to meet its deficit targets, but are delaying their decision on when to release the next round of bailout money.
Yesterday, the Greek parliament pushed through an extensive package of cuts and tax increases — its most aggressive austerity budget so far — in order to receive their next bailout payment.
“I don’t know how we are going to face it, I’m almost desperate from this point of view because our budgets are not the budgets we need,” says Dimitra Noussi who runs the Homeless Foundation in Athens. She’s seen increased requests for foundation services since the debt crisis began. Reflecting a popular sentiment in the country right now, Noussi says she’s not sure if the bailout conditions are worth it, “the consequences of all these austerity measures are very dangerous… It makes me feel very worried.”
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