EU, IMF auditors should learn their place says Greece

Greece on Monday kept up the heat on auditors from the European Union and the IMF who said the government should sell 50 billion euros in state assets to lessen the country's runaway public debt
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"They have no right to announce government decisions," state spokesman George Petalotis said as the authorities struggled to convince critics that the huge asset sale was the Greek government's own idea.

"It is our decision to aim for a target of 50 billion euro ($68 billion). We are talking about exploitation (of our resources)... not a sellout," Petalotis said.

Note EU-Digest: Greece, which has been living beyond their means for years gets upset today when they are told how to manage their finances by their partners in the EU, who are bailing them out of the financial crises they created for themselves. Experts believe that one way to cut their deficit would be to slash their army budget in half. Greece, one of the smaller countries in the European Union, spends more than any other country in the EU on defense as a percentage of its GDP: 3.3%. By comparison, Germany, the most populous country in the EU spends less than 2% of its GDP on defense. There is absolutely no need for their huge army and their argument that they need it to protect them from Turkey, lacks not only common sense, but is also ridiculous.


For more: AFP: EU, IMF auditors should learn their place: Greece