By Chrysostomos Tsoufis

The changes to the heating allowance announced by the financial staff do not change the philosophy of the allowance which last year received 1.3 million households.

Just like last year – barring a shocking unforeseen event – the allowance will be between €100 – €800 with an additional €1000 for the coldest areas. It is also increased by 20% for each child. This year the doubling of the allowance does NOT apply for those who “gave up” natural gas to switch to natural gas.

The final amount of the heating allowance is obtained by multiplying 350 by the so-called degree day factor which is different for each region of the territory depending on how cold it is. That is why the allowance in Preveza is different from the allowance in Katerini for a family with the same number of members and the same income criteria.

The income criteria which remain the same:

-€16,000 for the unmarried

-€24,000 for the married man

This year, however, the income criterion is being expanded from €3,000 to €5,000 for each child.

For a single-parent family – without the additional child – the limit is set at €26,000.

At the same time, this year a cutter is introduced for natural persons who carry out business activity so that if they have more than €80,000 in annual turnover, they are not eligible.

*It has not yet been clarified whether for the new beneficiaries – those who submit an application for the first time this year – the limits will be lower, €14,000 for the unmarried and €20,000 for the married without children, as was the case last year.

In any case, there is also a property limit, €200,000 for unmarried beneficiaries and €300,000 for married ones. In total, the measure will cost €237m (from €280m last year) and the finance ministry will at least subsidize the pump citing the lack of fiscal space.

In his informative note, however, he hastened to add that although oil prices are currently a little higher than last year at this time ($93.4 this year compared to $91.4 last year in October), the estimate is that the price of heating oil this year will be close to the same levels as last year after the double discount from public funds and refiners.

Last year the sale of heating oil started at €1.41 after the 2 discounts. According to the market factors, if it were placed today, it would be at €1.55. For this reason, the government has chosen to direct the available resources to measures such as an increase in disability benefits, the personal difference allowance for pensioners and an increase in the minimum guaranteed income.