Regarding the contribution of the financial tools and European resources that the country now has at its disposal with the aim of strengthening the development and social nature of the policy being followed, the Deputy Minister of National Economy and Finance, Nikos Papathanasisduring his speech during the discussion of the bill “Sanction of the State Budget for the financial year 2024”.

“The 2024 Budget expresses in practice the implementation of the agreement with society that gave Kyriakos Mitsotakis and New Democracy a new four-year mandate, a mandate which we are committed to keeping in full. It is a budget of economic and fiscal stability, with a development sign, that creates new jobs for all and sundry. It exudes a social sensitivity that we don’t give to any opposition party”, underlined Mr. Papathanasis.

“It is the first budget drawn up after the recovery of the investment grade. THE Hellas emerges as a reliable and attractive investment destination for even more direct foreign investments, with a strengthening of the competitiveness of the Greek economy and new and better-paid jobs” he noted.

Mr. Papathanasis referred to his basic predictions Budgetsuch as the salary increases of civil servants – the first since 2010 – the reinstatement of the three-year “frozen” since 2012 for employees, increases in pensions, tax-free for families with children, the minimum guaranteed income.

“Greece, in 2024, will have more than double the growth rate compared to the rest of the Eurozone (2.9%, compared to 1.2%) and lower inflation. A faster decline in public debt and the government deficit, as general government debt is expected to decelerate from 172.6% of GDP in 2022, to 160.3% in 2023 and to 152.3% in 2024,” it said.

At the same time, he reminded that in 2023 we had a 7.1% increase in investments, while in 2024 an increase of 15.1% is predicted.

More than 60% of the 2.9% growth for 2024 will come from the important development tools that the country now has: the Recovery and Resilience Fund, the NSRF 2021-2027 and the National Development Program. In particular, investment resources amounting to 12.2 billion euros are expected to flow into the Greek economy within 2024. Of these, 8.6 billion euros will come from the NSRF and the Public Investment Program and 3.6 billion euros from the Recovery and Resilience Fund. An additional 4 billion euros will be given in low-interest loans, an amount that translates into more than 9 billion euros of investments.

The deputy minister placed particular emphasis on the strengthening of small and medium enterprises. “The opposition accuses us that the expenses and loans of the Recovery Fund go to big business. The official data on aid to small and medium-sized enterprises show that to date 100,300 enterprises have been supported with direct grants with a total public expenditure of 812.9 million euros. In the loan program, 248 investment projects have been contracted, of which 116 from small and medium enterprises, a percentage of 47%. TAA loans have a fixed lending rate of 0.35% for very small and small businesses and 1% for medium and large ones.

At the same time, from indirect support, a large number of TAA actions create jobs implemented by small and medium enterprises. Indicative examples of actions in this category are the “Excoionamo” Program, with a total budget of approximately 1.5 billion euros. The “I save by doing business” Program, which concerns energy saving interventions in 10,000 small and medium enterprises. The digital transformation of small and medium enterprises, with a total public expenditure of 297,198,959 euros, through which approximately 99,800 small and medium enterprises are expected to be financially strengthened.

Mr. Papathanasis also noted the actions implemented for employment, skills and social cohesion, the training programs implemented by small and medium enterprises as well as the employment support actions also implemented by DYPA, with the final goal of around 41,000 workers mainly in small and medium enterprises.

Particular emphasis was also placed on the contribution of European resources to Health sectorwhere in the context of the Recovery and Resilience Fund, 42 projects and reforms are financed and implemented, with a total budget of 2.1 billion euros.

Regarding the NSRF, Mr. Papathanasis emphasized that “the 2014-2020 programming period that ends at the end of the year, brings Greece from the bottom of Europe in the absorption of resources in July 2019, to achieving 95% absorption today”.

The NSRF 2021-2027 with a budget of 26.2 billion euros, which concerns only small and medium enterprises, will contribute in 2024 with 6.5 billion euros to development. With the support of all 13 Regions, which ensure 8.1 billion euros in relation to the 5.9 billion of the NSRF 2014-2020, while 1/3 of the total available resources has been reserved for the regional programs. In addition, for 2024 it is planned to issue new calls for funding in the framework of the sectoral programs “Competitiveness”, “Environment and Climate Change”, “Transport”, “Civil Protection”, “Human Resources and Social Cohesion”, “Cross-Border Cooperation”, a total budget of 3.9 billion euros.

At the same time, in the Public Investment Program, for the period 2023-2025, it has been budgeted to spend resources increased by 100% in relation to the period 2017-2019, while, within 2024, the reform of the Public Investment Program is progressing, with the establishment of a new framework for the simplification of the integration and financing procedures and the upgrade of the ePDE integrated information system.

Her role is also important Hellenic Development Bank, mainly in facilitating the access of small and medium-sized enterprises to sources of financing, therefore, and in expanding the perimeter of enterprises that will be able to receive loans. Today, the Hellenic Development Bank manages disbursed loans exceeding 9.2 billion euros, with 75% of the financed businesses having up to 10 employees and 81% being businesses with up to 2 million turnover. For 2024, two additional financial instruments are planned, the “TEPIX III Guarantee Fund” and the “TEPIX III Loan Fund”.

Mr. Papathanasis also referred, in the role of EATE, to the Just Development Transition Program – the first approved similar Program in the EU, amounting to 1.63 billion euros – as well as the contribution of PPPs to the provision of high quality projects and services to citizens , such as student residences, water supply, waste management, road and rail projects.

“We continue to implement the program for which the citizens elected the government, now implementing the major changes that the country needs. The bar of responsibility is very high and we consistently want to meet the expectations of our fellow citizens with the appropriate policies for their benefit, preserving in any case the fiscal balance and stability that the country has achieved”, the minister concluded. Minister of National Economy and Finance.