Chr. Staikouras: New support measures at the end of the week depending on the health condition

The adoption of new support measures for households and businesses will depend on the course of the new mutation of Covid-19 and the financial staff is ready to announce measures depending on the decisions that will be taken at the end of the week at the health level, said Christos Staikouras.

In an interview given to the First Program, the Minister of Finance underlined that every mutation causes obstacles to the smooth recovery of the economies but it seems that the Greek economy is enduring and the big picture is good. This is evidenced by data such as forecasts for a strong recovery in 2021 and 2022, the increase in deposits continuously for 28 months and the explosion in electronic transactions to 52 billion from 40 billion in 2019.

Asked what the new support measures are expected to be, Mr. Staikouras said he could not speculate and would take a responsible position at the end of the week. Of course, he noted that he always leaves all possibilities open because in the last two years the country has gone through many crises. “I can not rule out any measure if there is uncertainty at the health level. Based on the developments and based on the budgetary resilience of the country, we will decide how to react.”

Mr. Staikoutas noted that the measures to deal with the health crisis in the two years 2020-2022 reached 43.3 billion.

Regarding the increase of the minimum wage, he reiterated that the conditions have been created, ie growth and competitiveness, so that there can be a second increase in the salary within the year.

Regarding the energy crisis and accuracy, Mr. Staikouras stated that the problem is objective and they re-evaluate the situation every week and every month and accordingly the state intervenes noting that the measures taken at the energy level only for the month of January amount to 400 million The fact that accuracy gnaws the income of the citizen Mr. Staikouras reiterated that with long-term (reduction of taxes and contributions) and short-term measures support the disposable income. Asked how inflation will move, the Minister of Finance stressed that he can not make estimates because the problem is exogenous and is caused by unbalanced factors and the strong recovery of the economy that has created problems in the supply chain. However, he acknowledged that “energy costs and inflation are higher than the ECB estimates, it lasts longer, has more violent effects but seems to be temporary and will begin to decline in the second quarter.”

Finally, he noted once again that the goal is for the country to get out of the enhanced supervision in 2022 and to regain the investment level in 2023.