The 2024 primary surplus will reach 3.5% of GDP (against a target of 2.5%), while the total surplus will amount to 0.2% of GDP, compared to a forecast for a deficit of 0.7%, outgoing Minister of National Economy and Finance, Kostis Hatzidakis, said during the handover ceremony of the ministry.
The numbers announced by Hatzidakis are expected to be officially confirmed by Eurostat on April 22.
Hatzidakis underlined that during his work at the Ministry of National Economy and Finance, he aimed to achieve very specific results. “We did not turn Greece into a paradise. That is not our goal nor our promise. We had promised that we would take Greece several steps higher in these two years. And this was achieved,” he stressed, making special reference to the upgrade of the Greek economy by Moody’s.
The country also received an investment grade from its last rating agency, he noted. “This has to do with our general economic policy but also with our fiscal policy, how we have managed the country’s public debt through the PDMA. Last year alone, we saved 800 million euros for the average taxpayer over a decade due to the investment grade. But obviously our fiscal policy also has to do with the execution of the budget. The budget had an overperformance,” he said, estimating that in a month we will see a primary surplus of 3.5% and a ‘normal’ surplus of 0.2%.”
“This did not happen by chance. It was the result of a well-organized effort,” he said. “And I do not want anyone to underestimate the importance of being a good manager. Especially when it is the state treasury,” he added, emphasizing that this is the basis for everything else to be done and for a sound social policy to be implemented.
Referring to the banking sector and the financial sector more broadly, Hatzidakis stated that important things have been done.
“We concluded the privatization of all four systemic banks earlier. We addressed the pending issues of the so-called 5th pillar. We brought bold measures that had a positive impact on society for the notorious commissions of the banks. And we reduced the ‘bad loans’ from 52% to 30%. The out-of-court mechanism is progressing very quickly and now 30,000 of our fellow citizens have settled debts to the public amounting to 10.5 billion euros, thanks to the regulations we passed at the end of 2023, which included mandatory out-of-court settlement for the vulnerable, an increase in the haircut up to 28%, fixed interest rates of 3%, etc.,” he stated, adding that new measures are coming that provide for an expansion of the out-of-court settlement, doubling it to cover the middle class.
In addition to all this, Hatzidakis said that progress was also made in public property. “Within 1.5 years, something unprecedented in the modern economic history of Greece happened. A total of 15 different privatizations were carried out, bringing in revenue to the public of 8 billion euros,” he noted.
Hatzidakis also spoke about the “big steps” made in the field of tax policy. As he said, 72 reductions have been implemented since the beginning of the four-year period, but there have also been some 20 reductions in the last two years. However, he particularly emphasized the efforts, which he described as “unprecedented”, that have been made to limit tax evasion.
The outgoing Minister of Finance also referred to the promotion of innovation.
