Half of Greeks Can’t Pay Bills

Beset by relentless pay cuts, tax hikes, and slashed pensions that have eaten up 46.5 percent of their income, half of Greek households report they couldn’t pay their everyday bills last year, forcing them to borrow money from relatives or run up their debts, according to a new survey.

The study commissioned by the small and medium sized business association GSEVEE  found 49.8 percent of households fell behind on bills and expenses last year, 48.3 percent managed to cover costs, and just 1.8 percent saved money. The study found 93.1 percent said they had suffered a loss in income since Greece’s financial crisis began in late 2009, while 33.1 percent borrowed money from relatives or friends in 2012.

The government has doubled income and property taxes, and taxes on food, fuel and other necessities have also risen to 23 percent, but ironically have caused a drop in expected tax revenues as Greeks have slowed spending almost to a standstill.

Debt-strapped Greece has been surviving on rescue loans from the Troika of the European Union-International Monetary Fund-European Central Bank (EU-IMF-ECB) since 2010 but those came with conditions the government impose harsh austerity measures that have mostly affected workers, pensioners and the poor as tax cheats who owe the country more than $70 billion have largely escaped sacrifice.

Greeks have also cut back sharply on their spending, including for supermarkets, who reported a drop in sales in 2012 of some 500 million euros, ($668 million) forcing them to finally lower prices after they had been reluctant to do so despite the country’s crushing economic crisis.