Former Greek Minister of the Interior Professor Tassos Giannitsis gave an interview on Xinhua news agency discussing the Greek pension system. As he said: ‘the Greek insurance system was one of the core causes which led to the 2009 crisis’. He also added that ‘the expenses incurred by the state for pensions stood at 71 billion euros or 83 percent of the total fiscal deficit for the 2006-2009 period and 94 percent for the 2010-2013 period’. For Professor Giannitsis, a social agreement is urgently needed to deal with the Greek pension system problem. He suggests the implementation of measures to enhance economic growth, investments, competitiveness, knowledge and innovation, in order to increase employment, wages and revenue for insurance funds and the state. As he said on Xinhua: ‘In order to have stability and confidence in the insurance system in the long term, the mutual consent on the reform of the insurance system would be unquestionable’.
