By Penelope Galliou

With the main concern of the government continuing to be the protection and support of the citizens and especially the most vulnerable households, the Maximos Palace and the financial staff of the government work firmly oriented towards this goal and in the continuation of the policy that started from the previous government term and from the outbreak of the energy crisis onwards.

The consistent implementation of the budget and the increased revenue in the public coffers reinforce the government’s goal and the fiscal margin that the government has to manage and “exploit” in order to achieve further support for the citizens with targeted interventions, which will be determined after the August holidays and certainly any announcements related to the Prime Minister’s speech at the Thessaloniki International Fair.

A foretaste of the government’s intentions was already given yesterday by the prime minister after his visit to the Ministry of Energy and Environment and the meeting he had with Theodoros Skylakakis, from where Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced the continuation of support for the most vulnerable households in their electricity bills for the coming months as well.

“Our concern remains the proper functioning of the market and the support of the most vulnerable households,” said the prime minister, adding that “citizens know that this government has stood by them throughout the last year and in practice repelled the large fluctuations in the price of electricity. This is something that we want to continue to do for the next period of time” pledged the prime minister, specifying the timing of the relevant announcements during his speech at the International Exhibition of Thessaloniki.

In addition to the new announcements expected in September from Thessaloniki, by the end of next week the bill of the Ministry of Finance will have been passed which, among other things, brings increases in public sector salaries, provides for an extension of the market pass for an additional three months and of the household basket until the end of the year, increases the tax-free allowance for families with children by 1,000 euros and provides for a 10% reduction of the ENFIA for homes that are insured for earthquake, fire and flood.

In any case, the concern of Finance Minister Kostis Hatzidakis and the entire economic staff of the government is to maintain the “golden ratio” between fiscal discipline that does not endanger the course of the Greek economy and prudent interventions to support citizens, especially the vulnerable, from the surplus of the economy.

After all, Mr. Hatzidakis himself recently declared that he was optimistic about the course of the Greek economy and noted that “it is up to us, by applying the right economic policy and especially the right fiscal policy away from demagogic temptations, to move forward, sending the message to Greece and abroad that our country is following a path of Europe and common sense, a path like the one it followed in the last four years, accelerating efforts even more and pleasantly surprising for the decisive our nature”.