By Chrysostomos Tsoufis

The die has been cast… Like Christmas 2022 and Easter 2023 this Christmas, the government will be able to support the most vulnerable households with a one-off payment against punctuality. According to the information of skai.gr, the…scraping of the barrel finally yields an amount of around €300m.

The budget execution figures were the final piece of the puzzle that Mr Kostis Hatzidakis in order to propose the measure to the prime minister and he to take the final decisions. Now the announcements are a matter of time.

The figures for the period January-October show jump in the primary surplus to €6.1 billion, almost 4 times over the target of €1.74 billion.

And all this without counting the collection:

1. The price, amounting to €1,496 million for the granting of the right to use and operate the Egnatia Road motorway and its three vertical road axes, for a period of 35 years, which was predicted to be collected in the month of June after the relevant procedure for the approval of the contract is in progress.

2. The 3rd tranche of €1,718 million from the Recovery and Resilience Fund, which was expected to be collected in September
On the contrary, the dance of the surplus is “dragged” by tax revenues that have exceeded expectations and estimates by €3.9 billion.

The fund of €300 million more than covers those who received last year’s corresponding accuracy check of €250:

-1 million pensioners with pensions up to €800
-35,000 uninsured seniors
-172,000 disability allowance beneficiaries

Possibly the government will (slightly) open the range of beneficiaries or decide to increase the allowance a bit.
Based on the Commission’s estimates, the Greek economy this year is the big surprise as it is expected to record the 3rd highest growth rate, 2.4%, behind only Malta and Estonia. And all this in an environment where the Eurozone economy is literally “crawling” as it is expected to close the year with growth of barely 0.6%, while 7 member states between them and Germany do not seem to avoid recession.

In addition, the Commission gives its blessings for the upcoming increase in the minimum wage. When asked about Greece, Commissioner Gentiloni was clear that these increases are necessary due to inflation and that there is room for them with the aim of restoring the purchasing power of consumers both in our country and in several European countries. Especially when these increases do not burden public finances and when there is such strong profitability in the businesses of many branches of the European economy.