The support measures announced by the government, both extraordinary and more strategic options, were mentioned, speaking to ERT, by Omiros Chapalos, spokesman for Ministry of Finance.
“These are measures that respond to two needs, some extraordinary, related to the war, such as the extension of diesel, the fertilizer subsidy until August, or the extraordinary benefit of 150 euros for families with children for June. But they are also measures of a permanent nature, not of a subsidy nature, which we must reinforce.” He mentioned in this regard the reimbursement of rent, but also the aid to pensioners, “precisely because we ought to support them because of inflation and accuracy. But they are also groups that need further support for their incomes, regardless of whether we have had inflation or not.”
He went on to say: “We gave €500 million plus €300 million two months ago, so €800 million came out of the €2.8 billion surplus.” Responding to criticism from Socrates Famellos for “not giving the rest”, Homer Chapalos said: “Because quite simply, the fiscal rules of the European Union do not allow us to return in full the surpluses back to the citizens in the form of income support. Tax cuts would be illegal, in simple terms, if we did that, Greece would be exposed to the European Union. We have to keep money aside for both debt and emergency purposes, because we don’t know how the war will turn out.”
Fuel prices
On the subject of fuel he said: “Looking at the conditions and fuel prices we will judge towards the end of May whether the fuel pass, including diesel, needs further extension. But to do that we need to have money and that is why we have set aside €200 million for an emergency in case we need it.”
He explained that it is preferable to what we have done “than to reduce special excise duty.If we reduced the excise duty, the subsidy on diesel would be only 8 cents and not 20 cents.
On the support for families with children, he said that the measure concerns 1,000,000 families and the criteria are broadened. The measure follows on from those implemented in the last 2-3 months, which have to do with reductions in the direct tax brackets for those with families with children.
The issue of accuracy
Speaking on the issue of accuracy and whether there is a possibility of a market pass, he commented: “At the moment on the table there is no market pass, we are monitoring prices in the market, there are some reasonable revaluations as a result of the increase in energy costs.”
He said there have been some significant income support in recent weeks, while the increased minimum wage and increases for civil servants will be paid at the end of the month.
Settlement of debts in 2 instalments
Finally, Chapalos referred to the arrangements for the repayment of debts, saying that the potential beneficiaries are 1.3 million individuals and 300,000 businesses.
