Need Europe and its Member States to address the serious problems created by energy crisis and high inflation by pursuing policies that strike the best balance between economic and social needs, the finance minister stressed. Christos Staikouras during today’s closed-door discussion with International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Ms. Kristalina Georgieva and other European officials in Washington, DC, in the context of the IMF-World Bank Annual Meeting.

As Mr. Staikouras noted, “Inflation has a strong impact on households and threatens the production structure of our economy. Maintaining social cohesion is a condition for successfully overcoming the energy crisis.” In this direction, he established six policy axes that need to be implemented:

1. National policy coordination, as it was during the pandemic. “The most pressing problem in Europe is the huge rise in natural gas prices, which is pushing down electricity prices. In order to solve this problem in a coordinated manner, Greece has proposed a properly balanced ceiling on the European wholesale natural gas market.
2. Use of windfall profits of companies from high energy prices to support society. “To this end, in Greece, we are implementing an innovative financing scheme that uses excess profits from electricity suppliers to subsidize electricity bills for households and businesses,” said Mr. Staikouras.
3. Creation of financial incentives and communication campaign to voluntarily reduce energy demand and improve energy efficiency.
4. Ensuring that support measures remain temporary, targeted and adequately tailored to the specific needs of the national economy.
5. Strengthen cooperation with the social partners so that the dynamics of wage and price inflation do not take place at the expense of the level of employment.
6. Continue to promote reforms and investments that facilitate the transition to a green economy and stimulate investment, employment and productivity.

The Finance Minister also today attended the 8th meeting of the Finance Ministers Alliance for Climate Action, which was held as part of the IMF-World Bank Annual Meeting.

Accelerating the transition to a green economy

In a statement, he stressed that “the unprecedented combination of challenges we are facing highlights the need to accelerate the transition of our economies to a green economy and promote long-term sustainable growth and sustainability. Not only does this go hand in hand, but it requires the adoption of policies that improve climate change and energy independence while maintaining sustainable international energy trade. In the context of the current crisis, this policy will also help stabilize energy prices at a lower level.”

Mr. Staikouras also noted that “Greece is responding to these new challenges while constantly aligning its policies with its climate goals. This approach serves the green transition and strengthens its energy security. A few months ago, the first National Climate Act established a state-of-the-art framework for a smart, efficient and socially just transition for the country to climate neutrality. In addition, in the context of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, a broad portfolio of sustainable investments already exists and will be further strengthened under the RePower EU umbrella. At the same time, the Ministry of Finance continues to systematically promote the integration of climate considerations into macroeconomic, fiscal and financial policies.”