P. Skourletis: To adopt a zero VAT rate for consumer goods

In the need for measures that will strike at the core of accuracy, which the government is not doing, by intervening in the wholesale electricity price formation mechanism, by reducing excise taxes on fuel consumption, but also with a zero VAT rate on consumer goods, in order to to relieve households with low incomes, which are pressured by the very high inflation, mentioned the Parliamentary Representative of SYRIZA – Progressive Alliance and Member of State, Panos Skourletis, speaking on the “First Program” 91.6 and 105.8 of ERT.

In particular, among other things, Mr. Skourletis emphasized:

The government is not hitting the core of accuracy

13% makes us the country with the highest inflation rate within the EU and, at the same time, the lowest pay, in terms of minimum and average wages. This means a lot of pressure on people who are paid and live within these salary limits.

The question is whether, beyond the exogenous factors that exist to some extent, government management could have prevented this very high accuracy. The management of the energy crisis, and by extension the precision wave, was wrong from the start, a wrong strategic approach, because it has not intervened as much as possible at the core of the problem and comes afterwards to try to deal with the effects of the price explosion.

In the electricity issues we have speculative inflation and this results from the mechanism that shapes the price in the wholesale electricity market, the energy exchange. This discussion has taken place not only in Greece, but at a pan-European level. Many countries were given the opportunity and took a different path and struck this mechanism at its core. What is this mechanism? In very simple words, expensive natural gas, regardless of the amount of its daily participation in the electricity produced, drags to the higher prices, that is, of natural gas and the electricity produced by cheaper wind or hydro. This is a profit mechanism, it is obvious. Here comes the government after the fact and says it will respond to this not by interfering with the mechanism, but with its results.

For the need to intervene in VAT

Reduction of VAT, overall and on bills, because even at the gas station when we go we have a 24% charge, but also on what you said before, for flour, sugar, pulses, rice, basic products. Because there inflation is much higher than the announced rate. The so-called popular inflation is much more. The inflation of electricity, housing, transport, is much more. Yes, there could be such interference. It is one of the foreseen possibilities on behalf of the EU. To have a zero VAT rate on specific products. (…) The government tells us, “but does the fiscal space exist?”. The government itself, Mr. Staikouras told me in the Parliament, talks about an overperformance of the VAT, precisely because of the accuracy.

At the same time that we are looking for the best way to manage public finances, the fiscal space, we have broken records for direct assignments, without tenders. I think 7.5 billion was taken out by the Public Contracts Control Authority. On the occasion of the pandemic. Eh, that’s a little scandalous.

For the elections

When 85 – 87% of people, depending on the latest poll results, say that the government is unable to deal with the issues we are discussing, the accuracy and the energy crisis, I think they want a different deal and this one cannot provide it the present government. So, the way things are is better. After all, the government itself feeds back on this climate.

SYRIZA is not afraid of elections, that is why they have been asking for them for a long time and they are, above all, politically necessary based on what we are saying. The key that will shape the outcome of the next election is the very large pool of undecideds and another, even larger pool of political abstainers.