In her independence Theodoras Tzakri and her Iotas Poulos said the government spokesman, Pavlos Marinakis as part of the political editors’ briefing at noon on Thursday.

As he pointed out, typically the official opposition today changed color and party, “we hope to acquire a costed program”, he said characteristically, given that as of today PASOK is the Official Opposition.

Asked about the planned speeches given by the former prime minister and president of the ND, Kostas Karamanlis, after the removal of Antonis Samaras, Mr. Marina’kis pointed out that “Kostas Karamanlis is a former prime minister”, explaining that “red lines are not personified”.

“The speech of Mr. Karamanli is awaited with great interest. We make it clear that former prime ministers can express their opinion, as long as it does not cross “red lines”.

“Meetings between Mitsotakis and Dendias are regular – There is no issue of PtD discussion at the moment”

Afterwards, Pavlos Marinakis also answered about the possible meeting of Kyriakos Mitsotakis with Nikos Dendias and the possibility of nominating him for President of the Republic.

As he pointed out, “Kyriakos Mitsotakis has regular meetings with both the MPs and the ministers. With Mr. Dendia has frequent meetings”, he said characteristically, while in the event that Mr. Dendias for President of the Republic, he emphasized: “You know the answer. There is no discussion at this time.”

“Greece is finally getting its public finances in order, without mortgaging the future of the next generations”

“The State Budget for 2025 was submitted to the Parliament by the Minister of National Economy and Finance Kostis Hatzidakis and Deputy Minister Thanos Petralias, said the government representative during his introductory statement. “This Budget combines two very basic facts: the first is that Greece is finally putting order in its public finances without mortgaging the future of the next generations as the State Budget records that Greece in 2025 will have the fourth highest primary surplus in across the EU, an overall deficit that will reach 0 and the fastest rates of public debt reduction in the whole of 27 EU Member States”.

He added that “Greece has multiple times the growth of the eurozone average and in combination with the initiatives to limit tax evasion that already have tangible results, the State’s revenues are increasing without increasing any tax rate. Investments and exports will increase in 2025 while the same is true for public investment which has more than doubled in 2024 compared to 2019 and will increase even more next year.”

He also made a comparison of health spending in 2025 compared to 2019, pointing out that it will have increased by 74% while defense spending by 73%, underlining the government’s priorities while spending on environmental protection in compared to previous years are significantly increased in the 2025 Budget.

He also underlined that the GDP in 2025 will have increased by 62 billion. euros, i.e. by 34% compared to 2019.

“The second key fact is that with this Budget the government continues and supports the increase in citizens’ incomes with 12 new tax reductions, such as the abolition of the business tax, the reduction of insurance contributions by 1 unit, the exemption from the insurance premium tax health for children up to 18 years of age and the independent taxation of doctors’ on-call fees at a rate of 22%”, he emphasized. “At the same time, the digitization of public functions, which is progressing at an intensive pace, and the fight against tax evasion, has already produced tangible results as, according to the Commission’s own estimates, we will succeed in closing the “hole” by 50% VAT revenue. Another dividend that will be distributed to citizens in the coming years.

As we have repeatedly said, the biggest bet of this government is the production of continuous positive news in the field of macroeconomics and economic indicators, to be transformed into an increase in the disposable income of citizens”, Mr. Marinakis.

He then referred to the positive ratings for Greece and the debt reduction that “since yesterday international rating agencies such as Moody’s have given. DBRS Morningstar positively assesses the decision of systemic banks to amortize deferred tax credits faster, while the Swiss investment bank UBS remains quite optimistic about the course of the Greek economy, despite the environment of international uncertainty, making separate references to the drive for high primary surpluses and a significant reduction of the public debt”.

The discussion that begins in the competent committee of the Parliament on Friday on the funding bill of the Ministry of Health, was the next topic. “The bill includes, among other important regulations, the regulation for incentives to attract doctors to barren areas, as the framework of non-financial incentives is updated and completed,” said the government representative and referred in detail to what concerns the new measures to be voted on provisions.

He underlined that “the support of the National Health System and the serving doctors is a dominant priority for the government and after the increase in salaries, the compensations of on-call workers, the possibility of private work, we continue with even more moves the effort to strengthen the sacred work their”.

Before completing his introductory presentation, Mr. Marinakis said that “on Tuesday, the National Demographic Action Plan was presented at a joint meeting of the committees of the Parliament, the Special Standing Committee for the Monitoring of the Social Security System, the Standing Committee on Social Affairs and the Special Standing Committee on European Affairs. After the appointment of the Demographic Commissioner and the presentation of the Demographic Toolkit by the European Commission, Greece becomes the first country to obtain a coherent Action Plan which includes a wide range of tools.” He emphasized that “the Plan has a ten-year time horizon. Its 5 axes include 20 objectives, which are promoted through more than 100 actions, which are harmonized with the recommendations of the European Union, the priorities and good practices proposed by International Organizations”.