The content of “sustainable development”, market prices, people’s incomes, taxation, are at the center of the interventions of the parties’ speakers, during the discussion of the 2024 budget, in the Economic Affairs committee of the Parliament.

The governing majority emphatically refers to the policy of sustainable development and the interventions to increase the income of citizens -increases in the salaries of civil servants, the lifting of the three-year freeze, an increase in the tax-free allowance for families with children, an increase in the minimum guaranteed income and an increase in pensions- but the opposition collectively accuses the government of taunting, calling on it to reflect on the bleeding of public income and the launch of private debt.

The general rapporteur of the ND Stelios Petsas stated that “the policy of sustainable development, which supports the most vulnerable without strangling consistent taxpayers, it is also the compass of the government’s policy for the future, always prudently so as not to disturb the fiscal balance”.

“Since July 2019, the governance of Kyriakos Mitsotakis and the New Democracy methodically steers the ship of our country with vision and safety for a better tomorrow”, said Mr. Petsas and added that the 2024 budget supports the national economy , households and businesses, in a way that contributes to sustainable development and social cohesion, so that inequalities are reduced, no one is left behind, “let us all go forward together and our Greece even higher”.

“The 2024 budget confirms that our first priority is to increase the income of Greeks,” said Mr. Petsas, referring to salary increases for civil servants, the lifting of the three-year freeze, an increase in the tax-free allowance for families with children, an increase in the minimum guaranteed income and an increase in pensions.

In relation to the measures to limit tax evasion, Mr. Petsas said that the money that the State will collect constitutes a social dividend, because the Prime Minister’s commitment to return this money to society is clear, for better public health, more spending for education, strengthening public security and defense of the homeland.

And because the dividend from growth must be distributed to society, the 2024 budget includes budgetary interventions amounting to 2.5 billion euros, which boost the income, especially of low-wage and low-pensioners, and contribute to mitigating social inequalities and reducing the risk of poverty , noted the general rapporteur of the ND.

The general rapporteur of SYRIZA Nikos Pappas, he referred emphatically to the accuracy, to the upcoming interventions for the freelancers that, as he said, the government played on them before the elections, but also the interventions for the employees, saying that what the government is promoting is light years away from what it had promised them before the elections. In this climate, the deputy called on the government to clarify whether its commitment that the salary, in 2025-2026, will go to 1,500 euros is valid. The general rapporteur of SYRIZA also referred to the swelling of private debt, “with the 1.5 million VAT as a forced collection measure”, at the same time that small businesses only have access to bank loans, since the Recovery and Resilience Fund it is cut and sewn only to their measurements.

Nikos Pappas referred to “yesterday’s mass protest”, regarding the tax issue, and noted: “I would not like to believe that in your eyes all these people are tax evaders. Lawyers who don’t have an office and are struggling for a living, small and medium-sized professionals, self-employed, who can’t even afford to pay their insurance contributions and yes, there can be people with an income below 11,000 euros.”

The general rapporteur of PASOK, Paris Koukoulopoulos, preamble called on the government to withdraw the self-employed bill because it “constitutes a major anachronism as it returns us to the age of presumptions”. Mr. Koukoulopoulos said that the budget is socially unjust, developmentally inadequate and with ignorance of danger for the “adventures that the country is about to enter”. He also noted that today a huge redistribution of wealth is taking place, in favor of the few and powerful, while the small and medium are trapped in private debt and the vulnerable try to survive on benefits. At the same time, said the general rapporteur of PASOK, accuracy is sweeping and that is why the country is in the penultimate position in the field of purchasing power. But also in terms of the development part, the budget, the deputy pointed out, supports development in tourism, real estate and popular consumption and not in substantial development policies.

The general rapporteur of the KKE Nikos Karathanasopoulos, said that the path of “development” followed by the government and the parties that ruled before it, leads to the concentration of wealth in fewer and fewer hands and at the same time leads to the impoverishment of the largest popular strata. The working-class family receives constant blows to shield capitalist profligacy. Capitalist profitability is achieved by the concentration of the sectors of the economy in groups and large business interests, by the liberalization of the markets, by the commercialization of sectors such as health which forces the common family to reach even deeper into their pockets, said Nikos Karathanasopoulos . At the same time as the increase in interest rates, ordinary households are unable to meet their obligations, taxation has the same consequences, said the general rapporteur of the KKE.

The general rapporteur of the Hellenic Solution Vassilis Viliardos, said that while simplification of the tax system is needed to attract investment, the government is moving in the completely opposite direction. He also emphasized that inflation, especially in food, continues to hit people’s incomes, leads to the collapse of income and purchasing power and may provide tax revenue but in the end the citizens will be bankrupt and if this continues, before long the government will not be able to collect even through direct taxation since the taxing capacity will be exhausted. The MP referred to the absence of a productive model, at the same time that Eurostat data show a continuous decrease in productivity. In relation to taxation, Mr. Viliardos said that instead of the head tax, the government should fight tax evasion and improve the reciprocity of taxes.

The general rapporteur of the “Spartans” Ioannis Kontis, said that the government expects revenues with wishful thinking, but without considering the reality they created for people’s incomes, memos and inflation. “Citizens in their daily lives, see that they don’t go out, they cut from the needs of the house, for the needs of their children. Where will this come out? Are we going to live with vouchers?”, said Mr. Contis.

The president of “Niki”, Dimitris Natsios, said that there is no plan for real development and strengthening of the country’s productive fabric. Any anemic increases in wages and pensions have already been dissipated by precision, private debt, auctions, Mr. Natsios said and pointed out that the growth model is non-existent, public debt, one of the largest in the world, has been slightly reduced due to inflation. At the same time, many borrowers are unable to service their debts to the banks, due to the rise in interest rates, the trade balance is permanently negative, the guarantees of the Greek State are an open wound and an undisclosed debt, said the president of “Niki”, who emphasized that Greece has conquered the…sceptres in youth unemployment between the ages of 25 and 29, while there is no long-term plan for the productive and economic reconstruction of the country.