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The entire interview with Kyriakos Pierrakakis on Alpha’s main newscast and journalist Antonis Schroiter<\/h3>\n
Antonis Schroiter: Let us now talk to the Minister of National Economy and Finance and President of the Eurogroup, Kyriakos Pierrakakis. Good evening, Mr. Minister.<\/p>\n
Kyriakos Pierrakakis: Good evening, Mr. Schroiter.<\/p>\n
Antony Schroiter: We heard you specify the measures, we heard a number of benefits for the most vulnerable, we heard a new debt settlement. Where is all of this aimed, as the situation stands today, Minister.<\/p>\n
Kyriakos Pierrakakis: Let me say, first of all, that the measures are targeted, because de facto they affect many social groups, but in essence they are spread throughout the whole of society: Tenants, pensioners, families with children
Three categories of measures. I will start with the last one which you mentioned – the measures on private debt – the market was asking for it, we listened to the entrepreneurs, the small and medium-sized enterprises, and I have been listening to them very strongly lately. They were asking for this arrangement that we are making with the 72 instalments. We are lowering the introduction to the Extrajudicial Court from 10,000 euros to 5,000 euros.<\/p>\n
Antonis Schroiter: One last, last, last debt adjustment.<\/p>\n
Kyriakos Pierrakakis: I will tell you that we are actually helping people get back on their feet. Not the strategic defaulters but those who were really asking for that helping hand from the state. The course of the Greek economy, at the moment, allows us to do that because this comes along with the other measures that we announced – both the temporary measures, the measures that deal with the here and now, the crisis, the energy crisis and the price pressure and the permanent ones. What is our agreement with the citizens? As long as the Greek economy outperforms, that outperformance should come back to every Greek family.<\/p>\n
Antonis Schroiter: I remember the current Prime Minister, as leader of the opposition, saying that this story about benefits is a disgrace to governments, that it’s a client relationship, that benefits shouldn’t exist, that we should go to permanent measures. Allowances again.<\/p>\n
Kyriakos Pierrakakis: On the contrary. Overwhelmingly we are going to permanent measures and this government from 2019 onwards what this government has done is to have cut 83 taxes and contributions. An entire TIF was set up on a tax reform. But here, in the temporary measures, we have in our hands, I have in my hands the Commission paper, which says what? Take measures that are temporary, targeted, tailored, it has three terms: temporary, targeted, tailored.
So that’s what we did for this part. But as you have seen, out of the 500 million euros – a total of 800 million euros because we have also announced 300 million euros a few weeks ago – a part is de facto going to the energy crisis, with diesel subsidies. What are all the other European countries doing? But overwhelmingly what are we looking at? Permanent measures: Pensioners, renters.<\/p>\n
So the overall philosophy is this, and, you saw it served in the TIF that preceded and in the TIF that will follow.<\/p>\n
Antonis Schroiter: Is that enough, Mr. Minister? We have inflation ahead of us which is already high, the estimates, you know better than I do, is that it will be much higher than we expected along the way. The crisis lasts. Accuracy is galloping. Is that enough for the average citizen to make ends meet right now?<\/p>\n
Kyriakos Pierrakakis: You will never hear from my lips to say that everything is perfect, you will never hear it from the lips of the Prime Minister. The imported inflation, the imported inflation, the imported precision that is coming to every European country in general, must be curbed. We have to do our best to support the disposable income of citizens, every family that sees us and every business. What we are seeking to do, I will say this is what every European country is doing, but we, because the Greek economy is outperforming, we have taken these measures of 800 million euros, which are coming back to the citizens right now.<\/p>\n
So, I will say, it is a breath of fresh air. And here let me emphasize, let me underline, how this money is coming in. Because I’ve been hearing “overtaxation” the last few days. Look at the figures. I invite everyone to look at the figures. Just 10% of the extra surplus that we have in our hands comes from taxes. Do you know where the rest comes from? It comes from spending and cutting government – we have actually reined in some spending – and at the same time, from growth and reducing unemployment. We are close, Mr Schroiter, to achieving the historic low of Greece having the lowest unemployment in its history. These are not a few. They are important. Not all the problems have been solved.<\/p>\n
Antonis Schroiter: Not that there is no overtaxation of course, it’s not of the moment but I guess you can also see that we are still high in taxes, both indirect taxes and direct taxes.<\/p>\n
Kyriakos Pierrakakis: I will respond to that. You know that no other government historically has cut 83 taxes and contributions. Neither I personally nor the Premier will be satisfied until those 83 tax cuts become 183. But you have to do it by building step by step. The economy is not wishful thinking. It is sweat equity. And we’re in a country – and I say this in the context of the comments I’ve heard from the opposition today – the country didn’t sweat to get here and the people didn’t sweat to get here. They bled. And there is no way this generation will make the same mistakes again and pass the bill on to the next generation. I say this in the light of comments I heard today about giving 3 billion euros, 4 billion euros, 5 billion euros…
You know, we used to hear this when I was still at school, when I was a student. It’s all the logic that bankrupted the country. People – I will say – for the opposition, they are unrepentant. They haven’t learned anything, they haven’t forgotten.<\/p>\n
Antonis Schroiter: The duty of the Opposition, I will tell you, is to ask for more and to look where the Government can give more and I will ask, without being the Opposition…<\/p>\n
Kyriakos Pierrakakis: I disagree with what you said though…<\/p>\n
Anthony Schroiter: Your right…if you can’t give more…<\/p>\n
Kyriakos Pierrakakis: I disagree where? I disagree on the perimeter of the disagreement. We can certainly disagree. It is beneficial to disagree on what the measures are. We cannot disagree on what the space is; we cannot abolish the rules of physics. This logic has bankrupted the country. So let PASOK and SYRIZA come and tell us the 800 million we would give it there instead of you. This is the opposition, the truly European opposition.<\/p>\n
Antonis Schroiter: Okay, PASOK has made its proposals for specific tax cuts, for VAT cuts, let’s not open that. I will ask, because you said it, if this space that existed is over, Minister? In short, if this crisis continues, if the energy crisis also continues, is there any possibility for the government to come back with new measures or is that the end of it?<\/p>\n
Kyriakos Pierrakakis: I will say that it would be irresponsible if we had today – to put it simply – if we had “scraped the bottom of the barrel”. We have “ammunition”. We have kept a space in the order of EUR 200 million. There is a crisis in the Middle East that we are monitoring and which has consequences that we are studying as we go along; we do not yet know its duration. But I will say the same thing again: the key word for the Greek economy across Europe – I see it now in my new capacity as President of the Eurogroup – is ‘resilience’. This word characterises the Greek economy today much more than other European economies. And it is not the property of a government. It is the property of the people who see us. It is the property of the Greek people.<\/p>\n
Antonis Schroiter: Two hundred million euros is our available for the very difficult? I say this because it doesn’t seem like much. If it were 500, plus 300, 800 what we are talking about now, you wouldn’t call it too much ammunition.<\/p>\n
Kyriakos Pierrakakis: What I will say is that based on the current data, that’s the amount and from there I think we have proven that we have the agility, the flexibility and the speed to make the decisions that we need to make. What did the Prime Minister say? What have I repeated myself? <\/p>\n
At every step of this crisis we will be there for every citizen. I can assure you that there is no way, given the performance you have seen today, that this will not happen.<\/p>\n
Antonis Schroiter: To close. How is our economy doing, Mr. Minister? We have an international crisis. You didn’t take it into account when you were preparing the budget at the end of last year. Will the budget fall short? Are we off target right now? What is happening will lead to a reduction in growth – we are already seeing that – will lead to much worse than what we are seeing?<\/p>\n
Kyriakos Pierrakakis: In neither case. We are barely on target. And what you mentioned about the decline in growth, which we see happening right now this year in all European countries, we have a decline. In Greece it’s from 2.4% to 2%, we’re double, we’re at twice the average. Did you see at the same time what we announced? In the coming years we are increasing the forecast for growth – this year inflation is eating that amount to a certain extent, and we are there to support every citizen and every business.<\/p>\n
Antonis Schroiter: Within budget targets.<\/p>\n
Kyriakos Pierrakakis: Absolutely.<\/p>\n
Antonis Schroiter: Mr. Minister, Mr. Pierrakakis, thank you very much.<\/p>\n
Kyriakos Pierrakakis: Thank you too.<\/p>\n
.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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