It was too good to be true, as it turned out.

It took just hours for the finance ministry to issue a denial of the statement of a cabinet member claiming that the government will allow taxpayers to pay their tax debts in 12 instalments.

It was a super-fast denial, which allows us to draw certain conclusions.

One such conclusion, which is not very flattering for the government, and consequently dangerous for the country, is that the government is not letting its left hand know what its right hand is doing.

The other conclusion is that the longer the illusion of a clean exit from the bailout memorandum becomes entrenched in the minds of those in power, the more the instances of pro-popular announcements there will be, which the finance ministry will hasten to revoke.

The third conclusion, which reflects the causes of the shoddy nonchalance with which announcements of benefits are made, is the anxiety of the government, individually and collectively, to present anything they believe will draw popular approval.

Various handouts and the measures to facilitate payment of the huge debts that over-taxation has piled up, are the par excellence fonts from which this and any government can draw arguments to burnish its image.

But when these arguments are vacuous, then the results are the opposite of what was expected.

To paraphrase an old aphorism, the shenanigans of empty promises are seen by public opinion, which laughs at them.

Τελευταία Νέα