Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced on Saturday further funding to cushion the impact of an energy crisis and soaring inflation on the nation’s households.
The government proceeded in a series of announcements to help the economy during the Annual Economist Thessaloniki Metropolitan Summit (AETMS).
The EU energy crisis has prompted governments to push through multi-billion-euro packages to protect homes and utilities from rising costs, Reuters reported.
Meanwhile, at an emergency meeting on Friday, EU energy ministers tasked Brussels with drafting proposals within a few days to cap the revenues of non-gas energy producers and help power firms stay afloat, as they seek to protect citizens from skyrocketing prices.
Greece already spent about 8 billion euros to subsidise power bills since last year, according to Kathimerini.
Ahead of the 2023 parliamentary election Mitsotakis is expected to maintain the support until at least year-end.
It is worth mentioning that Greece only exited its creditors’ so-called enhanced surveillance last month, having been dubbed the euro zone’s most indebted country.
August saw Greece emerge from its third international bailout after a decade-long financial crisis and has relied solely on markets to cover its borrowing needs since then.
The government has decided to use any additional fiscal room to fund power bill subsidies.
Mitsotakis is also expected to announce a six-pronged plan to help young people rent or buy a house.
At the same time, Greek Alternate Finance Minister Theodoros Skylakakis announced that the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Fund will be instrumental in preventing financial recession in Greece.
Mr Skylakakis stressed the the assistance will be pivotal for the next few years during his address at the AETMS.
Referring to Greece’s next national elections and the extent to which these might affect the course of the fund’s projects in the country, the minister said that “there shouldn’t be a problem – provided that a stable government emerges”.
Alternate Minister of Development & Investments Nikos Papathanassis noted that the latest figures from the National Statistics Agency (ELSTAT) show the Greece’s national economy as being on an upward trajectory.