Chr. Staikouras: At € 3.2 billion the total cost of interventions to reduce electricity bills

The total cost of interventions to reduce electricity bills will reach 3 billion euros by the end of the year, of which 1.1 billion euros will be borne by the state budget, stressed the Minister of Finance Christos Staikouras during the specialization of the measures announced yesterday by the Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

According to the Minister of Finance, 70% -80% of the increase in the price per kilowatt hour will be absorbed.

Chr. Staikouras stressed that the increase in energy prices significantly affects household budgets, “gnaws” business turnovers and slows down growth dynamics, adding that the government is aware of the growing and accumulated difficulties and the aggravation of the problems, fully support and responds positively and with a realistic plan.

In particular, the Minister of Finance announced that the subsidy for electricity for May and June, is significantly strengthened and expanded bravely. Subsidies of existing categories and consumptions of households and businesses are increased and consumptions over 300 kilowatt hours of the main residence and other household properties are subsidized for the first time. The cost of the measure is 900 million euros.

Also, for the month of June, 60% of the increase is subsidized for all electricity bills that have been charged to consumers and have been issued from December 2021 to May 2022. It concerns household consumers for charges of their main residence that are not covered by the discounts issued through the electricity bills. The grant will be deposited in the declared IBAN accounts. As he stressed, 90% of households are covered, while it can not exceed 600 euros per consumer. The cost of the measure is estimated at 280m euros.

According to the Minister of Finance, the selling price of diesel for diesel for the months of May and June continues to be subsidized at the source so that the benefit in the final price for the consumer continues to be at 15 cents per liter. The cost of the measure is estimated at 45m euros.

Finally, from July 2022 and for one year, the mechanism of discounts on electricity tariffs is strengthened horizontally in order to stabilize the retail price. A mechanism for absorbing the extra income of producers in the wholesale market is introduced. At the same time, the subsidy rate in the retail market will be adjusted on a monthly basis, strengthening the current mechanisms of discounts on tariffs so that prices on average remain stable at certain levels. The aim is for retail prices to remain stable at much lower levels regardless of the evolution of the gas price. The cost of the intervention is expected to be around 2 billion euros in the second half of the year.