6 out of 10 Greeks want to stay in euro zone

Six out of 10 Greek citizens want to keep using euro, despite their frustration over the harsh austerity policies European creditors requested from the debt laden country, according to new poll results released here Sunday.

In the opinion poll carried out on behalf of the ruling SYRIZA party, most respondents were worried about the direction that the European Union is heading to.

Two out of three said that they felt their voices were not adequately heard across Europe through their representatives in the European parliament.

Seven out of 10 complained that they did not receive in-depth information about the proceedings in Brussels and Strasbourg.

Earlier this month, Greek lawmakers approved the 2017 budget which includes a new round of painful austerity measures in order to meet bailout goals to exit the seven-year-long debt crisis.

Austerity policies implemented since 2010 under the bailout programs have shrank by about 40 percent the average income of Greek households, according to official statistics.

The ailing economy has finally stabilized in 2016 and returned to growth. Unemployment was reduced from 27 percent to 23 percent and is expected to further drop.

source: Xinhua