Family support through market pass more than it would be if the government reduced it VAT in food by 7 percentage points, the finance minister said yesterday Christos Staikouras, after a standoff with the opposition over a reduction in VAT on food in Spain. He himself, speaking with Mega, left open the possibility of receiving new benefits in the first half of 2023 based on the created financial space.

“We help citizens with what the state budget can handle,” said Mr. Staikouras, adding that “it has been proven that we have been managing public finances rationally over the past three years, and since the Greek economy is in good health, the fiscal space is created. This created fiscal space is returned to society. According to my estimates, the fiscal space will also be created in the first half of 2023 – if it is created, it will return to the society and will have nothing to do with elections.”

Regarding the Spanish government’s decision to reduce VAT on basic foodstuffs, the minister noted that “economic policy is not carried out by one measure, but by a combination of several measures.”

The government, he said, has made a choice. That option is to tax refineries and give that $650 million to consumers. Thus, a family of four will receive 52 euros per month. If we reduced the VAT by 7 percentage points, the benefit would be 36 euros, the aid would be smaller and would not necessarily reach the consumer as it could be lost in the supply chain. Therefore, the assistance provided is addressed to those who need it most, and not horizontally and ends with the consumer. The fiscal cost of the measures proposed by the official opposition is 3.5 billion euros per year, which means that Greece in 2023 will return to significant primary deficits, which we must avoid. On the issue of loans to vulnerable households, he said that there is an agreement between the Greek banking system, the Bank of Greece and the European supervisory authority, “that about 30,000 informed borrowers with a first home and a mortgage loan or even a small business loan, the bank will cover 50% increase in the contribution within 12 months without any budgetary costs. Secondly, in terms of fees, the banking system has announced a reduction in some of the 12 fees requested by the ministry. Third, on deposit rates, banks have pledged to quickly and boldly raise deposit rates.