“Mr. Staikouras issued a statement as a representative of the funds. We didn’t expect anything different” comments the party’s finance department head, Efi Ahtsioglou, launching an attack on the finance minister and continues:

“It is the minister of the Mitsotakis government who:

  • abolished all protection of first residence,
  • established the bankruptcy system that liquidates citizens’ assets and leads to the auctioning of the first homes,
  • legislated an extrajudicial so that citizens do not settle their debts, without any binding for the funds and the Banks,
  • supported by law the uncontrolled, tax-free and speculative activity of the funds to which the bad loans from the Banks were transferred,
  • increased private debt by 40 billion,
  • did not care about the abusive and unfair practices of the funds that destroy the everyday life of the citizens,
  • he did not know, did not check, did not deal with Mr. Patsis and Mr. Papathanasis.​

Mr. Staikouras came back today with the story of strategic defaulters, disparaging the millions of fellow citizens who have debts and at the same time:

  1. He called SYRIZA’s proposal “baseless” in relation to EU law. Caught once again unread. The European directive allows each state to legislate mandatory mechanisms for regulating the debts of natural persons. ND didn’t want to do it. SYRIZA will do it.
  2. He launched an attack on the Katseli law, the framework that protected the first residence of the popular and middle classes during the financial crisis, and at the same time once again insulted the tens of thousands of borrowers who settled their debts and were protected, as 80% of applications were accepted by the courts. Obviously, Mr. Staikouras would like that there was no protection of the first residence even in the previous years and that the generalized auctions that are held in his days had been held for years.
  3. He diagnosed contradictions in the mandatory mechanism to be established by SYRIZA for Banks and funds. Prophecies in sin. Obligation does not mean the absence of safeguards in case of non-compliance by the lender. The possibility of recourse to court precisely ensures that in any case there will be a viable arrangement for the debtor, binding for the creditor.
  4. He argued that with the first alternative of the extrajudicial mechanism, SYRIZA wants to reward strategic non-payers. Apparently he has not heard or does not know the meaning of the terms, as the general condition for inclusion in any alternative arrangement is the permanent and general inability to pay arrears and the absence of predatory or fraudulent behavior, confirmed through the lifting of bank and tax secrecy. But it would be interesting, since he is so preoccupied with strategic defaulters, to explain how today it allows servicers and funds to demand large one-off payments from citizens in order not to proceed to auctions, with the result that some and the real ones are saving their properties weak to throw themselves on the street.
  5. He spoke about the destruction of the payment culture that will come with the PNP suspending auctions, directly misrepresenting the position of SYRIZA for PNP suspending auctions of first homes based on the income and property criteria set by the new program.
  6. He commented decisively on the taxation of management companies. While every red loan that was transferred with “Heracles” and every securitization that took place during his days was accompanied by a full and universal tax exemption (pursuant to Article 14 of Law 3156/2003).
  7. As for the highly upgraded information and service he has provided to citizens regarding their debts, we recommend that he try to break it down to citizens who have lost sleep worrying about the progress of their debts and auctions.

It is somewhat hypocritical for the Minister of Finance, who sells communication “miniatures”, while he supported more than anyone else the dishonesty and excessive profits of Banks and funds, to accuse SYRIZA-P.S. for “populism”.

The only positive thing from today’s announcement by Mr. Staikouras is that he started the opposition a month and a half earlier than he will actually have to do it. He’s looking ahead, that’s good.”