Greece ranks first among European countries in public spending to combat the energy crisis as a percentage of GDP, according to data from the Brueghel Institute, published by Bloomberg.

In particular, measures of state support for Greece from September to July last year reach 6.8 billion euros, or 3.7% of Greece’s GDP. Lithuania is in second place with spending equal to 3.6% of GDP, followed by Italy with 2.8% of GDP.

The measures Brueghel is counting on include measures announced by the government last May to support electricity tariffs until the end of the year, but not yet fully implemented. However, in the meantime, the budget for these activities was sharply revised upwards due to the rise in the price of natural gas. Therefore, the final score is expected to be much higher.

However, the amount of 6.8 billion euros is close to what Finance Minister Christos Staikouras spoke about last week. Mr. Staikouras said that the cost of government intervention to overcome the energy crisis this year will reach 6 billion euros.

From September to July last year, support measures reach 6.8 billion euros, or 3.7% of Greece’s GDP.

Greece, despite only coming out of an unprecedented debt crisis in 2018 and having the highest debt in the EU, has also been generous in its anti-coronavirus support measures, ranking among the highest per capita spending positions. Mr. Staikouras said that in total the country spent about 50 billion euros on the two crises, health and energy.

In total, European governments have spent about 280 billion euros on the energy crisis since last September, Brueghel said.

However, despite the large amount, the future does not bode well. As Giovanni Sgaravati, one of the three analysts for the Brueghel study, notes in a statement to Bloomberg, “Prices will remain high throughout the winter and governments will have to work with a worst-case scenario, that is, that they will not back down even after winter.” “Governments should focus on reducing energy demand where possible,” advises Mr. Sgarawati.

The IMF recently took a similar view, arguing that governments should allow higher prices to put pressure on consumers to reduce consumption.

“Europe must adjust to rising fossil fuel bills,” the Fund’s economists said earlier this month. “Governments should allow the increased cost of energy to be passed on to the end consumer to encourage energy conservation and the shift away from fossil fuels. Horizontal measures, such as price controls, must be removed and policies must be targeted, such as subsidies to low-income households that are most affected.”