The Deputy Minister of Finance, Theodoros Skylakakis, characterizes SYRIZA’s accusations of a “knife” in the health expenditures in the budget as Aeolian, in an interview with APE-MPE, emphasizing that the reserve for Covid expenditures is very large.
At the same time, he states that the money from the Development Fund will obviously give back a part of the development, if the money is invested properly and emphasizes that “do not forget that” Greece 2.0 “is a strictly investment program”.
He also notes that “the Fund has a section on public works and another section on social infrastructure. “It’s obvious that public works involve a lot of people.”
Referring to the next year, Th. Skylakakis noted that “there are problems that are ongoing, such as accuracy and the pandemic, and significant amounts in the reserve of the next budget, it is obvious that there will be measures that we do not yet know and will be specialized during next year “.
Following is the interview of the Deputy Minister of Finance Th. Skylakakis at the Athenian-Macedonian News Agency.
Growth all indicate that it will be well above the budget forecast. Are there possibilities for new targeted interventions of the State?
The budget is complete. Beyond that, given that there are ongoing problems, such as accuracy and pandemic, and significant amounts in the next budget reserve, it is obvious that there will be measures that we do not yet know and will be specialized over the next year. . In addition, there is intervention in the field of energy, where we are committed to a permanent mechanism in order to deal with instability and high prices whenever they exist in the field of energy.
The pandemic cost us over 40 billion euros. How many years does it take for the damage to “close”?
The pandemic cost us 40 billion euros, but we also had the advantage of gaining a large amount of European resources, the largest per capita in Europe, from subsidies and low-interest loans from the Recovery Fund, which cover about half of that loss. At the same time, we have moved rapidly in the area of reforms. Something that is also accepted internationally. You see all the international organizations, even the new German Finance Minister who points it out. In this way, we have laid the foundations for a much faster development process, which will repair over the next 5-10 years the damage that the pandemic has done to us, in terms of public debt burden.
Inflation is the price of a quicker-than-expected return to normalcy. How much is it estimated that it will be above the 2% levels and to what extent can there be intervention to stop it?
A wave of price increases, especially in fuel, does not necessarily lead to inflation. Inflation is created when temporary increases become permanent and a spiral of price and wage increases is created. Commonly, when we move from temporary increases to permanent inflation expectations. This is not going to happen in the Eurozone and that is why there is the European Central Bank, which has a long-term goal of 2%, which is a level of inflation normal for the growth process.
“Greece 2.0” is running at a high pace, but are they able to give back some of the growth that the pandemic deprived?
They will obviously give us back some of the growth if the money is invested properly. This is our job. We ensure that the money is invested properly. Do not forget that “Greece 2.0” is a strictly investment program.
Who will have access to the Fund? And I ask this because there are voices that say it is not for everyone.
The Fund has a section on public works and another section on social infrastructure. It is obvious that public works concern a large number of people. For example, a road that enters it, a water supply project for those who drink water in the area, a reforestation project, a social infrastructure, a modern hospital, a digital classroom, concern everyone. We all have children or grandchildren or a need for public health infrastructure. There are major health prevention programs, energy saving programs, aimed at those who are willing to take advantage of them, including vulnerable households, which are primarily concerned with health and disease diagnosis programs, as well as the program to combat energy poverty, in the context of “Saving”, amounting to 100 million euros. In addition, there is aid for private investment in the Recovery Fund, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises. About 1.5 billion euros go, almost exclusively, to small and medium-sized enterprises, which are willing to invest. Anyone who really wants to invest can benefit from these development tools. Finally, there is the large loan program, which concerns all companies, provided that they have or can acquire, within a reasonable period of time, within the next three years, a bank profile.
If I asked you to prioritize the areas in which “Greece 2.0” will intervene, what would they be?
Those envisaged by the Plan itself: green transition, digital transition, health, education, private investment, filling the investment gap, with an emphasis again on digital and green investment, extroversion, as well as partnerships and mergers.
The opposition accuses you that through the budget funds are cut from health in a period of pandemic. What is your answer?
This is the answer I gave to the Parliament, where I presented the expenditures of the Ministry of Health on SYRIZA and the expenditures of the Ministry of Health for 2021 and 2022. In 2021 we foreseen in the Budget 4,257 billion euros and finally made expenditures of 5,217 billion euros . The additional costs, you know, were mainly related to Covid-19. In 2022 we forecast higher expenditures (4.657 billion euros) than the forecast of 2021 and much higher expenditures, than those of SYRIZA, in its last budget, 2019 (3.884 billion euros forecast and 4.041 billion euros estimate). At the same time, we have a very large reserve, which will cover the resulting Covid costs. Exactly how many they will be, I can not tell you, because it depends on the evolution of the pandemic, which still has serious uncertainties, since we also have Omicron, which we still do not know exactly how it will affect. Consequently, the positions of SYRIZA and its executives, who compare accounts that include Covid expenditures, reserve expenditures, with budget elements that do not include them, are sloppy and are made, unfortunately, only for reasons of partisan interest. It is characteristic that in 2020 they told us the same. Mr. Tsipras, Mr. Tsakalotos and Mrs. Ahtsioglou in the 2020 budget said that we will reduce health expenditures in 2021, by 572 million euros, compared to 2020. The final data showed that in 2020 4.83 billion were spent. euros and in 2021 5.22 billion euros. They fell out by 960 million euros.
At the beginning of 2022 comes a real “mountain” of obligations for those affected by the pandemic. Are you concerned about giving a new form of facility (eg extension, more installments, etc.)?
Already, the arrangements we have made for the pandemic are extremely favorable. For example, in the repayable advance we will have five years, with a very low interest rate, while from the 8.3 billion euros we gave, only the 3 billion euros will be returned, eventually. In any case, because there is a need to calculate the amounts of the refund, it is an issue that has not yet been technically completed by AADE. Payment start time is an issue for the Ministry of Finance.
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