From the floor of the 28th Annual Economist Goverment Round Table, Nikos Androulakis pointed out a little while ago, how “the escalating mistrust and discomfort of a large part of society towards the political systems was reflected in the recent European elections and the message is clear and we must all hear it, especially the progressive forces:

Inclusive policies are needed both in the economy and in the functioning of the liberal democracy itself, so that millions of citizens stop feeling that their daily lives are simply a struggle for survival».

The president of PASOK-Movement for Change noted that in the field of the economy, the social democrats believe in the tripartite Sustainable development – Quality Jobs – Reduction of inequalities.

Speaking about the real picture for the economy, Mr. Androulakis stated that “beyond the so-called “impressive growth rates” for which the government is celebrating, we will find that the country’s real GDP increased in the period 2019-2023 cumulatively by only 5.8%, with an average real growth rate of 1.4%. Despite the huge amount of resources that flowed and continue to flow into the country from the Recovery Fund”.

He noted that the government is celebrating, but the benefits of development are not spreading to society, nor are the structural weaknesses of the state and the economy being cured.

Employment in our country remains second from the end in the EU. while the deficit in the trade balance in the first four months reached 11 billion euros.

“Resources from the Recovery Fund are not being used in the most efficient way to ensure consistently high and sustainable growth rates

through a modern production model“, he argued Nikos Androulakis citing the Bank of Greece’s Monetary Policy Report, where cumulatively in the period 2021-23 only 45% of the total funds of the Recovery Fund grants received from Greece have been channeled into the real economy.

The president of PASOK-KINAL added that the public expenditures financed by the Fund’s grants were considerably lower than the initial projections of the national plans: “We have the highest underperformance after Croatia and Bulgaria. It is no coincidence, then, that international organizations see average annual long-term GDP growth in the region of 1%. As a result, the task of convergence with the average GDP per capita of the Union has become an extremely difficult goal that requires two decades in the best of circumstances, something of course very relevant according to recent extremely unexpected experiences, such as the pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. And without knowing what dawns on us in November in the American elections“, he emphasized.

Nikos Androulakis criticized the government for its plan for the economy as he claimed that “leads to great inequalities and concentration of wealth in few hands. Greed inflation in Greece ran 5.5 times faster compared to the eurozone over the last 4 years, as the quarterly report of the Parliamentary Budget Office shows“, he characteristically said.

According to the president of PASOK-Movement for Change, Greece records the largest percentage decrease in real income from work (-8.3%) in the period 2019 – 2023, in relation to all EU countries and is in deviation from the 27 where wages and profits follow an almost parallel course, in our country the gap is widening.

“The share of wages is shrinking (it is the second lowest of the 27) and the share of earnings is swelling – it is the third largest of the 27. Inequalities are not only entrenched, but also widening“, underlined Mr. Androulakis

He emphasized that for PASOK-Change Movement, “Convergence with the rest of Europe requires not just individual sectoral improvements, but a new Social Contract that will foster in citizens a sense of stability, security and justice.

Our basic principle is that civil rights acquire a democratic content only when they are based on social rights, otherwise we will remain spectators to the swelling of the “democratic deficit» in our country.

A deficit, which does not only concern the rule of law and institutions, but also the lack of labor and social rights necessary to participate in social life with dignity and perspective.

Therefore, the priorities we must set for the country in the next decade are to ensure a sustainable and stable development.

He proposed specific axes and policies for productive reconstruction and the consolidation of social justice in the country, strongly criticizing the country’s energy planning as, as he said, we need an integrated housing policy program, such as the one proposed by PASOK.

He strongly criticized the tax policy which, according to the president of PASOK-KINAL within three years, the profits that went abroad almost tripled and did not stay in our country to cover the huge investment gap.

“Today in the country, in order to understand the unfair nature of the tax system, tax is now paid even by the employee with the basic entry salary of 830 gross“, underlined Mr. Androulakis.

Explaining the proposals of his party, Nikos Androulakis emphasized that our goal for Greece in the next decade is to make our country a magnet for good jobs, to guarantee that productive work ensures a decent life and the prospect that our children will live better from U.S.

“The era of the Mitsotakis government will go down in history as the era with the greatest disgrace on the backs of the Greek people. It left a market unregulated, full of oligopolies with which it did not collide, leading the middle class and the weakest citizens to live in very difficult conditions. Call the arrangements, reforms.

He avoided the essential changes that the economy needs. He must explain why he did not clash with those who hold Greece back“, the president of PASOK-KINAL underlined in closing his speech.