SitiWanMahani - Satu lagi 729 Greece kehilangan
pekerjaan pada bulan Julai, memandu jumlah pengangguran kepada 1.37 juta.
Pengangguran boleh meningkat lagi, kerana di bawah syarat-syarat ‘bailout’ IMF
Athens kapak sebanyak 4,000 pekerjaan sektor awam pada akhir tahun 2013.
Kadar pengangguran Greece
meningkat pada bulan Julai untuk mencapai 27.6% peratus, menurut laporan hari
Khamis oleh perkhidmatan statistik Elstat negara.
Pengangguran di Greece kekal
yang tertinggi di kalangan negara-negara EU, dengan Sepanyol (26.3% peratus)
dan Cyprus (17.3% peratus) berikutan dalam senarai EU menganggur.
Pengangguran belia masih
menjadi masalah besar, kerana 55.1% peratus daripada orang di bawah 25, tanpa
pekerjaan.
Walaupun kerajaan Greek
mengatakan ekonomi akan mula tumbuh semula tahun depan - pertumbuhan tahunan
pertama sejak 2007 - pasaran buruh yang paling mungkin akan kekal lemah.
Kerajaan konservatif pimpinan
menjangka pertumbuhan pekerjaan sederhana tahun depan. Tetapi kemudian, ia
meramalkan kadar pengangguran kekal tinggi pada purata 26% peratus berbanding
dengan 27% peratus pada tahun ini. Kesatuan buruh terbesar, GSEE, telah dicat
gambaran yang lebih gelap mengunjurkan pengangguran melebihi 30% peratus pada
tahun-tahun akan datang.
Luka Kerajaan, diperlukan untuk
memastikan pembiayaan yang lebih IMF, datang sebagai beban tambahan ke atas
pasaran buruh. Syarikat-syarikat yang diuruskan oleh kerajaan yang menanggung
beban paling besar, kerana keadaan bailout memerlukan ia untuk mengurangkan
beribu-ribu pekerjaan di sektor awam, serta mengurangkan gaji sebanyak 25,000 orang
menjelang akhir tahun 2013.
Setakat Greece telah bergantung
pada dua menyelamatkan dari Zon Eropah dan Tabung Kewangan Antarabangsa: Mei
2010 pinjaman bernilai 110 bilion euro ($ 147 billion), dan Februari 2012
bailout bernilai € 140 billion euros ($187 billion). Walau bagaimanapun, IMF menganggarkan
pada akhir bulan Julai yang bailout Greece menghadapi kekurangan kira-kira 11
bilion euro ($14.59 billion) menjelang akhir tahun 2015, memberi amaran bahawa
kekurangan itu boleh menjadi lebih besar jika pertumbuhan mengecewakan.
Kemungkinan ketiga untuk
bailout Greece telah dibincangkan secara meluas menjelang pilihan raya umum
Jerman pada September. Walau bagaimanapun, di negara ini Timbalan Perdana
Menteri Evangelos Venizelos menafikan khabar angin, berkata negara ini boleh
menampung keperluan tanpa lagi membebankan penyokong semasa.
Greek unemployment tops 1.37mn, more job cuts on
the way
Another 729 Greeks lost their
jobs in July, driving the total jobless to 1.37 million. The unemployment could
rise further, as under the IMF bailout conditions Athens has to axe as much as
4,000 public sector jobs by the end of 2013.
Greece’s unemployment rate went
up further in July to reach 27.6 percent, according to Thursday's report by the
country’s statistic service Elstat.
Unemployment in Greece remains
the highest among the EU countries, with Spain (26.3 percent) and Cyprus (17.3
percent) following on the list of EU jobless.
Youth unemployment remains a
big problem, as 55.1 percent of people under 25, are without a job.
While the Greek government says
its economy will start to grow again next year – the first annual growth since
2007 – the labor market will most likely stay subdued.
The conservative-led government
expects modest job growth next year. But even then, it forecasts unemployment
to remain high, at an average 26 percent compared with 27 percent for this
year. The biggest labor union, the GSEE, has painted a much darker picture
projecting the unemployment to exceed 30 percent in coming years.
Government cuts, needed to
ensure more IMF funding, come as an additional burden on a labor market. State
–run companies are bearing the biggest brunt, as the bailout conditions require
it to cut thousands of jobs in a public sector, as well as reduce salaries of
25,000 people by the end of 2013.
Greece has so far relied on two
bailouts from the Eurozone and the International Monetary Fund: the May 2010
loans worth 110 billion euros ($147 billion), and the February 2012 bailout
worth 140 billion euros ($187 billion). However the IMF estimated in late July
that Greece's bailout faces a shortfall of around 11 billion euros ($14.59
billion) by the end of 2015, warning that the shortfall could be bigger if
growth disappoints.
The likelihood of a third
bailout for Greece was widely discussed ahead of the German general election in
September. However, the country's deputy Prime Minister Evangelos Venizelos denied
the rumors, saying the country can cover its needs without further burdening
its current backers.
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