:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/OE7NRNMQ45XENOTE5RCT6GXWXI.jpg)
Greece's finance ministry took a page out of Charles Dickens's classic A Christmas Carol to have a dig on Friday at the international lenders who have imposed unpopular austerity on the country.
An e-card from the press office of the Greek finance ministry, sent to journalists, showed a picture of a frail, stingy Ebenezer Scrooge warming by the fire during a visit of his former business partner Jacob Marley, the ghost of Christmas Past shackled in chains.
“Perhaps all Christmas stories feature a terrifying Ebenezer welcoming the spirits of Christmas in his desolate loneliness, and perhaps our Christmas story is no exception,” the e-card reads.
Left-wing government
“But dear friends and colleagues, our wishes will prevail over all the Ebenezers of this world. A very happy new year, with health and love focused on those all around us.”
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/EG6JREQLXYTWHEBLG7MLTYJUHQ.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/KWJQTTHMSDR6SRE5EQLG7WVLLQ.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/2O3CWALSEPEMMLRYMIAK2ORTCU.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/I3T6OVGBJ3Q7HLDMZ7ZI4XRB3E.jpg)
Cash-starved Greece has received three international bailouts since 2010.
Implementation of the latest accord has been complicated by the decision of the left-wing government to give a one-off Christmas bonus to old-age pensioners, without consulting creditors first.
Scrooge, a penny-pinching, bitter old man, changed his outlook on life after being visited by spirits on Christmas Eve, according to the Dickens classic.
– (Reuters)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/VR3765MFOBH2NMV2QNICYDF67M.png)