The costing of the SYRIZA Program is based on data gathered and presented by the General Secretariat of Fiscal Policy of the General State Accounts Office, emphasizes Deputy Finance Minister Thodoris Skylakakis in response to SYRIZA and the accusations of “flagrant propaganda” it launched against the government.

Among other things, Mr. Skylakakis mentions that the DG of Fiscal Policy has been quantifying the proposals of the Parliamentary Groups that are put to the public debate for years, while he recalls that he has requested a public meeting to discuss exhaustively and analytically the quantification of ND programs, SYRIZA and PASOK-KINAL

The announcement of Th. Skylakakis in detail:

“Regarding the costing of the SYRIZA Program, I point out the following:

(a) The costing is based on data from the State Budget, collected by different Services of the General State Accounts Office and compiled and presented in a single table by the General Secretariat of Fiscal Policy of the General State Accounts Office.

(b) The quantification is easily verifiable as it is primarily based on the 2023 Budget Tables, which are publicly available.

(c) For how many years the General Secretariat of Fiscal Policy, with data provided by the officers of the General State Accounts Office, successfully quantifies all the fiscal measures implemented, as well as, in most cases, proposals of the Parliamentary Groups that are put to the public debate or submitted in the form of a draft law.

(d) There is a huge gap between the quantification claimed by SYRIZA (€5.5 billion per year) and the quantification derived from the Budget figures (€21 billion per year, of which approximately 12 billion euros are fiscal measures and a 9 billion euro increase in health and education costs). It is indicative that only the following 7 measures: reduction of VAT on food, reduction of social security tax, 10% wage increase in the State with price indexation, tax-free 10,000 euros, refund of retroactives in 3 installments, reinstatement of the 13th pension, pension increase without taking into account the personal difference , amount to more than 8 billion euros per year.

(e) I have asked for a public meeting to be held on Sunday, in which the quantification of the New Democracy, SYRIZA and PASOK-KINAL programs will be discussed exhaustively and in detail, based on all the elements of the Budget, and I await the response. It would be great progress if there is a positive response to this invitation.”

SYRIZA: Lies have short legs
A little earlier, SYRIZA had spoken of “lies” and “vulgar propaganda” regarding the costing of its program by the General Accounting Office of the State, stressing that “as documentonews.gr reveals today, in communication it had with the competent General Budget Directorate Government, it emerged that the Directorate has not carried out any such costing”.

In particular, SYRIZA comments in its announcement that “while the ND program has become a “rabble-rouser” two weeks before the elections, Mr. Mitsotakis’ only premeditation is to deconstruct the SYRIZA-PS program with lies.”

“After they have made 4 different cost estimations, another 25, another 45, another 70, another 83 billion, in the last few days Mr. Skertsos has been roaming the channels and waving an excel as an alleged cost estimate from the General Accounting Office of the State. Today he took the baton Mr. Mitsotakis himself to repeat the same lies and confirm that he is the orchestrator of the hideous propaganda,” he says.

“It’s just that lies and propaganda have short legs”, notes SYRIZA, adding that “as documentonews.gr reveals today, in a communication it had with the competent General Government Budget Directorate, it emerged that the Directorate has not carried out any such costing”.

SYRIZA comments, finally, that “under other circumstances, Mr. Skertsos should have already resigned, who did not hesitate to involve even the General Accounting Office of the State in the ND propaganda. But in two weeks, with the verdict of the Greek people, will in any case be a thing of the past along with Mr. Mitsotakis and the worst government that the country has known since the Post-colonial era”.