At the 9th Delphi Economic Forum, the Minister of Economy and Finance Kostis Hatzidakis, guest of Mr. Dimitrelis, director of capital.gr, spoke, stressing that “We will continue our serious and responsible fiscal policy”.
Mr. Hatzidakis announced a total of 870 million euros in tax reliefs and reductions in 2025, which will result as follows:
- The reduction of insurance contributions by 0.5%, costing 215 million euros.
- The reduction, essentially the abolition, of the professional fee for professionals, costing 120 million euros.
- The permanent return of the Special Consumption Tax to farmers, costing 100 million euros.
- The increase in the student housing allowance (15 million euros).
- The increase in pensions, which based on the well-known mathematical formula, is estimated to be around 400 million euros.
- The suspension of VAT on construction, costing 20 million euros.
“From April 2024, we inform you about the tax reliefs and reductions in 2025”, emphasized the Minister of Economy, who noted at the same time that the target for the next year is for the primary surplus to move to 2.1%.
Responding to a question about whether these amounts take into account international developments, the minister emphasized that “we are weighing geopolitical developments” and that “we are not in a hurry” adding that “the coronavirus crisis, the energy crisis and the Greek economy have passed it endured and today it is running at faster growth rates than other EU countries”.
We keep the surpluses
Mr. Hatzidakis underlined that based on our new obligations under the EU fiscal rules, “we should keep the surpluses” and declared optimistic that “our country will reach its fiscal goals as we have done so far. to have leftovers aside, for the difficult years or times, to support the vulnerable”.
Referring to the general course of the Greek economy, he clarified that “we do not want to strengthen imports, but the dynamism and competitiveness of the Greek economy”.
As he characteristically said, “Our ally is the NSRF and the Recovery Fund, where Greece is first among the EU states”. regarding the utilization of these funds, incentives are given for investments and exports, while there is an increase in investments in the country, and mainly FDI where a 20-year record was recorded, although the investment gap remains, as the minister added. He also referred to the pleasant surprises regarding the exports of sectors such as the pharmaceutical industry, RES and the agri-food sector, while the shipping and tourism sectors are expected to make a large contribution.
Mr. Hatzidakis also announced a new bill with an emphasis on encouraging business mergers and innovation.
Tax evasion
The Minister of Economy also referred to the fight against tax evasion, stressing that 11 different initiatives are already running, from POS to the fight against fuel smuggling, with the aim of limiting tax evasion. From 2023 we managed to collect half a billion euros more from electronic transactions.
He also referred to the IRIS system which provides zero fees for transactions up to 500 euros and very low fees for use by professionals and called on citizens to use it.
Referring to the high fees of the POS, especially for small transactions, Mr. Hatzidakis announced that if the ongoing discussions to reduce costs do not work, then the government should take a legislative approach in this direction.
Incomes and inflation
Mr. Hatzidakis reminded that the minimum wage – respectively, the data for the average wage – has increased cumulatively since 2019 by 27.7%, while inflation in the same period together with the estimate for 2024 is 16.5% . That is, lower than the increase in incomes. He emphasized that this largely explains the electoral victory of the New Democracy in 2023. “The economy has certainly been affected by the crisis as well as by the unprecedented natural disasters”, the minister noted, stressing however that at the same time we are at the top of the table of the European Union in terms of increasing GDP. “This is the best way to achieve real convergence. In the coming years, as will be reflected in the program that will be submitted to the European Commission, we will aim for an average growth rate of 2.5%”.
European elections
To a question about the bar the ND places on the upcoming European elections, Mr. Hatzidakis replied that the ND is doing dangerously well in the opinion polls and underlined that the European elections are important for what will be the representation of the country in Brussels and that the result of the ballot box produces political messages, so let the citizens see what message they will send about the economy and the continuation of the successful course that the country has had until today.
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