With three major announcements regarding the new four-year period, his first feature interview took place yesterday. Kyriakou Mitsotakis on “Economy, Development and Employment”.

FirstlyThe prime minister said that in 2024 – if, of course, he is re-elected prime minister – he will introduce a new unified salary for civil servants. SecondlyMr. Mitsotakis, when asked about the possibility of reducing employer contributions, said that “this is our intention and we will be able to be more specific when we present our program for the second four years in detail.” third, the Prime Minister left open the possibility of more tax cuts in the future, but focused in the interview on what has already been done under the current administration, saying that all taxes for which there was an electoral commitment were reduced, while noting In addition, taxes have been added to the emergency cuts, such as the elimination of taxation of parental benefits for assets up to 800,000 euros, while the general taxation of capital, dividends for businesses has been reduced. Also important was the reduction of employee and employer contributions, as well as tax cuts for farmers. In conclusion, and with a political stamp, the Prime Minister emphasized that he had returned to the middle class what Mr. Tsipras had taken from him, what he had promised before the elections.

“Pause” for new measures

The Prime Minister announced a new salary scale for civil servants, a reduction in employer contributions and taxes – He did not rule out the possibility of new support measures before the elections.

However, when asked if he intended to take new support measures ahead of the election, Mr. Mitsotakis slowed down (temporarily). According to him, everything will be decided at the end of February, when there will be a clearer picture of the budget execution. “Before we start talking about the government’s next or next measure, let’s pause and look at the important measures that have already been launched. Like a market pass, for example,” Kyriakos Mitsotakis said, recommending “restraint and patience” and adding that “if life has taught me anything in these 3.5 years, it is that we must be careful.” referring to multiple crises. The above response also includes the possibility of retroactively returning benefits and gifts to all retirees, not just the 350,000 who applied to the administrative courts. The Prime Minister postponed this issue until the end of February, saying that the first month of the budget execution has not yet been completed and therefore it is premature to discuss it.

Investment level

AT question from K on the level of investment and whether it is influenced by the political scene, Mr Mitsotakis responded that “of course both investment houses and markets are waiting to see what happens in the elections” and “I firmly believe that if our Greek people are trusted again , it will be a matter of several months to get investment grade. I wonder if our political opponents can say the same thing with the same confidence,” he added, concluding that “if there is instability or the government follows a different program, then we will not even see investment grade through binoculars.” The premier also noted that accuracy is the biggest problem at the moment, noting that controlling the market is not an easy thing, but “for the first time, we have both legislative and regulatory tools.”

Finally, when asked about the so-called “airbag” that Mr. Tsipras often refers to, he said that what the leader of the official opposition refers to “was the product of a frenzied middle-class overstrain that was actually forced on him.” creditors” while today his government has a €39 billion cushion not from overtaxing but from a productive economy “that allows us to enter the markets whenever we want and basically no one thinks that public debt Greece is the problem.”

Visit Tokyo with a Business Flavor

Kyriakos Mitsotakis will pay an official visit to Tokyo from January 29 to 31, where he will meet with the heir to the Japanese throne Prince Akishino, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Parliament Speaker Hiroyuki Osoda. An important part of the Prime Minister’s visit is the business part, as he will hold meetings with leading Japanese business leaders and give a lecture at the University of Tokyo. According to “K”, the prime minister will be accompanied by deputy. Foreign Affairs Kostas Fragoyannis, Minister of Digital Governance Kyriakos Pierrakakis, Head of Enterprise Greece Vicky Loizou, Alexis Patelis, Hon. representative of Aristotle Peloni; and diplomatic adviser to the Prime Minister, Anna-Maria Bura. The Prime Minister will be accompanied by a business delegation.

The visit follows Mr Mitsotakis’ meeting last October with a large delegation of major companies from Japan at Megaros Maximos. At that time, the possibility of direct investment by Japanese companies in Greece was discussed, while the goal was to increase exports from our country to Japan. This was preceded by a visit by Mr. Fragogianni to Japan in January 2020, and a month later, the pandemic put a brake on what was being discussed at the time to strengthen Greek-Japanese relations.