A “package” of temporary and permanent measures to support citizens, at a fiscal cost of about 500 million euros, the government is announcing today.
The announcements are expected immediately after the Eurostat data on the budget surplus for 2025, at which time Kyriakos Mitsotakis will make a relevant message. This will be followed by specification from the economic staff, specifically from Kyriakos Pierrakakis and his deputy minister Thanos Petralias.
The extraordinary measures to be announced focus on the fuel and electricity, while at least one permanent measure is expected to be announced that will affect pensioners. Specifically, the extension of the subsidy on diesel fuel for May and the continuation of aid for the purchase of fertilizers are being considered. The possibility of a new fuel pass type intervention remains open, while a subsidy on electricity bills is not ruled out. There will also be an allowance for pensioners and other vulnerable groups to cope with inflation.
“On Wednesday (22/04) we have the official announcements on the surplus. We have a cautious optimism that we will have good news – and if we do have good news, wewill have announcements from the prime minister very soon on new positive measures to promote,” government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis told Parapolitika 90.1 yesterday, Tuesday.
He said he believes that “they will be measures which – like all the previous ones, without meaning that they will be a solution for all the problems of citizens – if what we all read and write and hear and read is confirmed, they will be measures that will also have their value.”
He stressed, however, that “because we do not have a final picture of the surplus, the measures have not been locked in. So to speak on assumptions would be wrong.” He asked to wait, recalling that “because we are talking about a surplus, in the budget debate in Parliament, the entire opposition was lambasting the government for the extra tax revenues that we had, and rightly so, and they were talking about overtaxation.”
In his speech at a meeting with EU Heads of Diplomatic Missions at the Embassy of the Republic of Cyprus in Athens, Kyriakos Pierrakakis, the Minister of Economy and Finance and Eurogroup President Kyriakos Pierrakakis, also expressed confidence that the primary surplus will exceed the target.
“Starting with Greece, I would like to note that tomorrow (today) we will announce thefinal fiscal results for 2025. Everything indicates that the performance will be better than expected, with a significantly stronger position, especially in terms of surplus. This creates, always in the context of the new European Union fiscal rules, additional fiscal space, which we intend to direct towards citizens, especially those most in need, in a targeted way. At the same time, this approach also reflects the course of the Greek economy in recent years, which is clearly growth-oriented,” he stressed.
