With a joint press release, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs respond to SYRIZA that on the occasion of the latest announcement by ELSTAT of the results of the Household Income and Living Conditions Survey for the year 2021 “the jeremiads started in Koumoundourou Square: in official opposition party are isolating the indicators of the year, when Europe and the world economy experienced the biggest post-war recession due to the coronavirus crisis, to distort reality and draw false conclusions.”
The staffs of the two ministries point out that we need to “look at the results more carefully and in depth”. As they note, “due to the pandemic and the precautionary measures taken by the government, 2020 was a completely unusual year, which does not lend itself to longitudinal comparisons” adding that “the first conclusion that emerges from the results of the research is that despite the large drop in GDP by 9.0%, the household income support measures taken by the government have been effective and have almost completely supported household disposable income (down just 0.9%).
In addition, regarding the increase in poverty and inequality indicators recorded for the year 2020, the two ministries point out that it is “circumstantial and due to the structure of the Greek economy”, i.e. “specifically, it reflects the significant percentage of employment in service sectors with a high of social contact which, due to the pandemic, remained closed for a long period of time in the year 2020. As a result, in 2020 these industries lost significant income”. “Due to the horizontal provision of financial assistance of 534 euros per month to a large number of suspended workers, the incomes of a relatively small group of households that were close to the poverty line fell below it, increasing the poverty rate,” the two relevant ministries explain , emphasizing that “this phenomenon is also observed in other countries of the European Union with a significant dependence on the sector of high social contact services, such as in Spain, Italy and Austria”. However, they underline that “this horizontal provision benefited many workers – especially part-time workers – whose monthly incomes before the pandemic were below the provision. As a result, the poverty gap, i.e. the average distance of the poor from the poverty line, decreased from 27 .3% to 26.4%”.
“In 2021, the Greek economy recovered impressively” state the Ministry of Finance and Labor, responding to the official opposition. Analyzing the data further, they point out that “the growth rate was 8.3% and employment increased by around 200,000, breaking the 4 million barrier for the first time in many years” and adding that “this helped to improve the living standards of of households: According to the same survey, and with a reference year now in 2021, the percentage of the population in material deprivation that had increased slightly from 16.2% in 2019 to 16.6% in 2020, in 2021 records a significant decrease to 14, 8%. This development predicts a complete reversal of the increase in poverty and inequality indicators recorded in 2020, for the year 2021, when the relevant income data becomes available.”
Regarding 2022, “according to the estimations of international organizations and international houses, despite the global financial crisis, the Greek economy is expected to record high growth rates, unemployment continues its downward trend, while the government proceeded with a brave, and within of the economy’s strength, an increase in the minimum wage that reaches 10%” the two ministries emphasize in the joint press release, expressing the “reasonable” expectation that “that the results of the next (reference year 2022) Household Income and Living Conditions Survey will record an even greater improvement in the population’s standard of living”.
“As the Greek and international experience shows, the effective and sustainable way to reduce poverty and social inequalities is to increase employment that creates a pro-development economic policy. The government follows and will continue to follow this policy, for the benefit of all of the Greek citizens” the Ministries of Finance and Labor and Social Affairs concluded in their joint statement.
Source: Capital
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