The Minister of Finance, Christos Staikouras, spoke about a review of the economic data for the better, through the program Today on SKAI.

It said growth this year would be higher than we estimated six months ago, at around 2.3%, while unemployment would fall below 12%.

On inflation, he said it appears to be persistent and called it the big problem for 2023, but added that it will be a little lower than estimates, around 4.5%.

“We will not see a reduction in prices, no stabilization, what we will see is prices increasing at a reduced rate,” he said, adding that precision is moving away from energy and focusing on food.

Regarding deposits, he emphasized that the Greek must feel safe, as there is a guarantee of 100,000 euros per depositor, while the banking system is also stronger, because:

1. Bad loans shrank
2. Deposits have increased by 50 billion euros in the last 4 years
3. The banks’ capital adequacy ratio is at 17.5%
4. Banks have enhanced profitability

These reasons can make the Greeks feel safe in the face of the turmoil of the crisis that may reach Greece, he said, however he pointed out that Greek banks, like the Greek economy, are exposed to any external crisis.

“We have acquired antibodies as the Greek economy, but we are not in a bulletproof state,” he said characteristically.

Against the possibility that interest rates rise furtherwhich seems to be in the ECB’s intentions, underlined that the government will continue to be purposefully close to society and at the same time limit the effects of the increase in costs coming from the ECB.

“The eurozone calls on finance ministers to stop horizontal support measures and on the other hand the ECB comes and raises interest rates, which means we have the risk of a vicious cycle,” he said.

For borrowers the finance minister emphasized that the risk of creating new bad loans is visible and that is why we are creating a safety net for citizens

“The banking system must re-evaluate the loans it has given mainly to vulnerable households and the installments have increased significantly, while there is also the out-of-court mechanism for those in difficulty” added Mr. Staikouras and added that “we are pushing for even more regulations, not we are still where we want to be, but it is the most effective tool compared to the past.”

Regarding the increased interest rates, he said that “some moves have been made towards the banks, it is an issue for which the government is pushing in many directions, there are also responsibilities of banks, while at the same time we are supporting the income of the citizens”.