Greek government to tackle 'humanitarian crisis' in first parliamentary bill

[WorldNews]

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By Renee Maltezou ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece's government submitted a bill to offer free food and electricity to thousands of poverty-stricken Greeks as its first legislative act in parliament, in a symbolic move to address what it calls a "humanitarian crisis". Athens, which got a four-month extension of a financial rescue from the euro zone last month, has sought to assure its lenders that such measures will not burden the budget while showing Greeks that it is sticking to pre-election pledges. "The deep recession due to austerity policies and the economic crisis in the past six years had a dramatic social impact," said the bill, which was tabled late on Tuesday. "This draft law aims at tackling the humanitarian crisis through measures which ensure access to basic goods." During a cabinet meeting last week, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said that improving living conditions of those hurt by the crisis was the government's "foremost duty", but reiterated Athens was still committed to a balanced budget.

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