Greece: Athens denies Varoufakis accusations that troika controlled national tax system

Speaking at a press conference in Athens on Wednesday, Greek Alternate Minister of Finance Tryfon Alexiadis denied allegations made by former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis that the troika controlled the Greek tax system. "No extra-institutional factor is allowed to intervene," he said, "neither at the General Secretariat of Public Revenue nor at the General Secretariat of Information Systems nor at Alexiadis or anywhere else." International inspectors representing Greece's creditors arrived at the State General Accounting Office in Athens on Tuesday to hold meetings on the first stop of their tour of the Greek capital. Greek Alternate Minister of Revenue Dimitris Mardas joined the party of auditors as they inspected the government agency responsible for the financial management of the Greek state. The group of inspectors representing the troika consist of members of the European Union (EU), the European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Officials from the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) have also joined the party of inspectors.