DELPHI FORUM VIII - FinMin Staikouras: Increasing real income of citizens a key priority

All available fiscal space will be utilized to increase the real income of Greek citizens, Finance Minister Christos Staikouras told Delphi Economic Forum VIII on Wednesday.

Staikouras, who is also running for a Parliament seat for the region of Fthiotida in the May 21 elections, outlined the basic directions of ruling New Democracy's campaign program. Priorities, he said, include the new increase in the minimum wage, the increase of the tax-free income allowance, and the increase of civil servant wages. He also said there will be a new decrease of insurance payments and cancellation of the substantial special fee for freelancers (telos epitidevmatos), the latter as long as tax evasion is further curtailed.

Staikouras foresaw an inflation rate of 4.5% on average, based on current data, while he said that the GDP's rate of growth will be much higher than 2.3%.

Asked why there was no decrease of the VAT rate on foods, he said that such a change would carry a cost of 1.4 billion euros, which would call for fiscal counterbalancing measures. Nobody can guarantee that such a reduction will actually reach the consumer, he noted, adding that it is preferable to have a targeted policy for those who show the greatest need instead.

Commenting on Greek banks, he said they are in much better shape than they were in 2019 - at least from the fact they drastically reduced their defaulted-loans portfolio and significantly increased the deposits - but the banking system "