Chr. Staikouras for TIF: The additional fiscal space will be allocated for the further support of citizens

The drafting of the new plan for the support of households and businesses in the face of punctuality, which will be announced by the prime minister from the TIF stage at the beginning of September, is in the final stretch.

As the Minister of Finance Christos Staikouras states to APE – BE: “the Government, every time a fiscal space is created, makes full use of it, for the benefit of society – and especially of the middle class and the lower income strata”.

He also states that “in September we will be able to have a better picture of the new fiscal space – after the one formed in March and June – which is created by the good course of the economy and the better, compared to forecasts, course of tourism “.

And in his statement the minister concludes: “at the Thessaloniki International Fair the Prime Minister will announce how this space will be allocated for the further support of citizens, in terms of economic efficiency and social justice”.

In the financial staff, they are working at a feverish pace in order to formulate an integrated plan, which will provide answers to the needs of society and the economy and at the same time maintain the fiscal balance of the country.

It is no coincidence that government officials, wherever they are and wherever they stand, say that decisions will be made at the right time and after first weighing the data and the needs of both the economy and society.

The final decisions will be made shortly before the TIF and after weighing the data that will exist at that time, both on an economic and geopolitical level. As the Minister of Finance has recently stated, it is extremely difficult to make predictions about the course of the economy, since everything around us is changing at a tremendously fast pace, both in terms of the economic and the geopolitical environment.

However, in this critical period, Greece is one step ahead of other European countries and this is due to tourism. Based on the data to date, the initial forecasts for the course of the revenues have been surpassed for the better, as reported by government officials and market players.

The content of the TIF package has by no means been finalized yet, as is natural. There are several scenarios, but as noted by Ministry of Finance officials, it is still too early to even have an outline of any decisions to be made.

The first question is the amount of fiscal space that will exist and the second is the course of the economy in terms of development. So depending on the above, as well as the course of prices in the energy sector, they will act in the government.

A key element in making the final decisions is the flow of income. Already the samples are positive and not only from the tourism part. Already a large part of the refundable advance has entered the state coffers, as well as income tax and ENFIA. If this trend continues, it goes without saying that the fiscal space will be larger.

Already at the Ministry of Finance they have the second supplementary budget in the works with the latest information talking about additional expenses in the region of 2 billion euros without changing the target for this year’s primary deficit (2% of GDP).

Based on the data up to the end of June, the net revenues of the state budget reached 26.259 billion euros, exceeding the target by 2.079 billion euros, and tax revenues reached 24.673 billion euros, exceeding 3.584 billion euros compared to the objective of the budget report. The submission of the supplementary budget is expected at the beginning of September and the additional interventions that will be announced at this year’s Thessaloniki International Fair will be supported there.

Source: AMPE