G. Tsakiris: market price increases are a temporary phenomenon that will soon begin to de-escalate

The Deputy Minister of Development and Investment, Giannis Tsakiris, estimated that the price increases in the market are a temporary phenomenon that will soon begin to de-escalate, speaking to Parapolitika 90.1.

In particular, the Undersecretary stressed that the demand after the pandemic marked a large increase that was not related to supply, while he did not fail to emphasize that the new NSRF is expected to benefit small and medium enterprises through the green and digital transition as they will be -as mentioned- investment injections, emphasizing that the procedures have been simplified.

At the same time, he stressed that the NSRF has financed the health system, such as the mobile teams of EODY and the flu vaccines, while in terms of financing start-ups, he said that the goal is to be an important part of GDP.

Finally, he stressed that the clientele of banks should be opened so that more customers receive financing with the help of the Greek government.

Price increases

Regarding market price increases, the Undersecretary said: “I think we are in a cycle of economic anomaly which has completely disrupted what we knew about the economic cycle. The phenomenon of price increases is ongoing, globally, we all know that it is driven by energy there is mainly due to the increase in prices, it is temporary and will soon begin to de-escalate. The market reacts quickly to any changes, as far as our country is concerned we are in a very good position compared to the rest of the EU countries and this is due to the growth we had immediately after the coronavirus, as well as obviously to the measures, precautionary measures taken by the government both during the coronavirus and now with the appearance of price increases. I can not predict the future but my personal feeling is that the phenomenon will de-escalate very quickly, as it appeared so it will go away and the market will balance. Let us not forget that demand immediately after the pandemic increased enormously, did not coincide with the corresponding supply and consequently we had this phenomenon which was greatly aided only by the prices of energy that you know exist and other types. geopolitical games etc “.

SMEs and financing

On whether there is a goal to increase the financing of small enterprises by the NSRF, Mr. Tsakiris said: “Of course this is the goal. Large investments obviously to some extent drag the so-called ecosystem around small and medium enterprises. Small and medium enterprises in Greece is the only target of the business program competitiveness of the new NSRF which amounts to 4 billion. The changes compared to the previous NSRF are in terms of targeting will be purely investment with priority to increase the competitiveness of small and medium enterprises through So we will not have working capital and liquidity injections, we will have investment injections to small and medium-sized enterprises because those who want to move forward and not just survive have to transform, become greener, become greener. more digital, to make the corresponding investments so as to remain or become more competitive than they are now. It’s the only way not only for them to survive but also for the economy in general to flourish and attract all sectors. ”

In addition, when asked how fast the companies will receive the money from the NSRF, he said: “We have simplified the procedures a lot. You saw that the last invitations go very fast, there are invitations that we pay before the invitation is even closed. I think, and it is your goal My, the phenomena we had in the previous years to join an NSRF program and get the money after one or two years, we still pay in ’16 because the invitations that came out were so tangled, the supporting documents so many. , and it is sad and we can not do anything about it, that when they applied there were 40 people and they entered the small ones and now that they are to collect the money there are 55 people – that is, the company that is good news has grown – but they can not they take it because from a young age they became middle-aged. ‘So tremendous simplification and our goal-I think we are in the same boat with the market and entrepreneurship “The money is to go to the real economy as quickly as possible, to get it back to us, to give it back to us, in simple words, to circulate the money.”

Regarding the financing of small and medium enterprises by banks, the Undersecretary said the following: “The customers of the banks in terms of enterprises are about 40 thousand in a total of 800 thousand so they have a very small part of customers. We will come to help through What the NSRF does is reduce banks’ risk to small and medium-sized enterprises in order to increase the flow of financing. the help of the Greek state through these financial tools that we will do from the NSRF “.

Health System and NSRF

Regarding whether a part of the NSRF will be extended to the strengthening of the health system, he said: “Wherever you go around, almost everything is NSRF, it just does not appear. The NSRF has financed the health sector a lot, starting from its mobile units For example, we are now funding influenza vaccines for the first time. ‘ “And for the future, because pandemics, crises, natural disasters, for example, will visit us more often. ‘So we have already significantly funded the health sector through the NSRF, there is detailed planning for the next programming period.”

Financing start-ups

Regarding the financing of start-ups, he stressed: “My opinion is that it is one of the few one-way streets that we must take as an economy in order to grow quickly and significantly. Innovation and technology, although they have no borders, I think we have as a country ( We have the potential to be an important part of GDP. There has been a real revolution in the ecosystem of start-ups, innovators and technology companies. in the technological tools that we have introduced in this part both from the side of the Greek development investment bank, of the old fund which invests in venture capital, as well as from the part of the General Secretariat for Research and Technology. This part in Greece My part is to continue to introduce in the financial market venture capital instruments, is what we call equity investments in order to jump from stage to stage of development. For example, there is a 60 million program called “accelerate” which involves venture capital funds to transfer technology from research institutes to the market. We are starting a new financial tool with venture capital funds for companies that have the product, have done something but want to enter the market. A program through the European Investment Fund for the so-called “business angels” will now be launched. The government has done a lot to improve the legal framework of the “business angels” and now comes the co-financing from us. This ecosystem is growing aggressively, it is like water lilies, two become four and four become eight. “In a year from now, if everything goes well and as we have planned, this sector will bring a very important part to the country’s GDP as well as it will approach minds both Greek that have already left and foreign ones”.

SOURCE: AMPE