The burning issue of punctuality in the everyday life of households is brought by Sokratis Famellos to the Parliament with a topical question he submitted to the Minister of Development, Takis Theodorikakos.
As the SYRIZA presidential candidate, who has focused his campaign on the opposition, points out in this regard, “the continuous rise in prices of basic goods, such as food, energy, fuel, health services, housing, leads to the further shrinking of disposable incomes of citizens and particularly affects the most vulnerable and the middle class.
In terms of purchasing power, our country is in the penultimate position in the EU, a breath away from the last Bulgaria and last in terms of purchasing power of hourly wages, while the risk of a new inflationary wave and due to the recent energy crisis – where there was no subsidy for energy costs of business – but also of ignition in the Middle East, is visible.
All this, while the government remains a silent spectator of the situation and continues to tolerate the obscene profit and excess profits of the few at the expense of the many”.
After the above, Sokratis Famellos calls on the competent minister to give specific answers on the control of prices and profit margins of the supply chains. It also calls for interventions to reduce the VAT on basic goods, which is a constant position of SYRIZA-PS.
The full text of the current question
Athens, October 7, 2024
CURRENT QUESTION
To the Minister of Development
Topic: “Revaluations of basic goods in Greece persist at the expense of consumers because the government does not provide solutions”
And in September, inflation in our country is still moving upwards. Despite the slight decrease compared to August (3% versus 3.2%), our country records the 4th highest inflation in the Eurozone, while in many countries it has decreased below 2%. The biggest increase is in food, where the index accelerated to a rate of 2.8% from 2% in August, while in industrial goods there was an acceleration to a rate of 1.7% from 1.4% in the previous month.
The price increase is also confirmed by the IELKA survey for the month of September, which showed price increases in a number of basic goods (1.55% fresh meats, 2.25% grocery foods, 3.38% fresh fruits and vegetables, 8.61 % fresh fish & seafood). As much as the government tries to attribute the increases to exogenous factors, the fact remains that households are constantly faced with continuous, cumulative food price hikes, which particularly burden the most vulnerable social strata, but now also the middle class, if the increases are taken into account in other basic goods such as energy and fuel, health, shelter.
Our country, according to the latest data from Eurostat, is a champion in poverty at the level of the European Union, with Greece recording the 3rd highest percentage in the EU (13.5%), of serious social and material deprivation of the population in 2023, despite the development that the government is proud of. The same conclusions are drawn from the comparison of purchasing power: in 2023 the country was second to last in the European Union, now only a breath away from last Bulgaria, while in terms of purchasing power per hour of work (purchasing power of hourly wages), it is now in last position according to the KEPE.
At the same time, geopolitical developments are expected to trigger a new cycle of precision, especially in energy costs, with no emergency measures by the government to further support incomes or control precision and reduce prices.
Following the above,
The Minister is asked:
- Does the Ministry carry out price and profit margin controls along the supply chain and address profiteering and profiteering? Which chains does it focus on and what are the results of these controls?
- Does the government intend to reconsider the reduction of VAT on basic food items as other EU countries have done, a measure proposed by consumers and trade associations, professionals and traders?
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