The country is not heading towards a new period of austerity, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis stated in reply to a question by “Naftemporiki” during the press conference at the 88th TIF.
Based on the ELSTAT data, which show strong growth, but widening of the trade balance deficit and the current account deficit, and given the strict fiscal framework, “Naftemporiki” asked the prime minister whether he is worried about the fiscal margins the government has in spending, welfare state and income support.
“You rightly pointed out that there is a new fiscal framework providing for spending cuts on an annual basis, which are determined in discussions with the European Commission, and we do not have the possibility to escape from these. However, as long as our economy is growing, this gives us more flexibility in our negotiations with the European Commission,” noted the Prime Minister. “We are talking about technical and complex issues,” he added.
“We will do better than our initial projections on spending caps”
Mitsotakis expressed optimism that “we will do better in terms of our initial estimates, without saying that we have inexhaustible resources.”
“But our basic obligations will be met and as our economy grows and the GDP increases, we will spend more resources in all areas of our policy, whether we are talking about defense or social policy,” he reassured.
“The country will never be under surveillance again”
He also underlined that “the country will not go through a period of austerity again and the country is never going to experience periods of supervision or monitoring by the Commission.”
“We fought hard to leave these behind us. This is recognized by the markets,” he said and added that “this priority for the government and for me personally is non-negotiable.”
