Finance Ministry keeps expectations for TIF low
Finance Ministry officials want to tone down expectations about the economic policy measures to be announced by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis early next month at the Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF).
The fair is the forum where Greek PMs traditionally outline the coming year’s economic priorities, including much-anticipated handouts.
The Finance Ministry believes that now is not the time for generous handouts and that, in any case, this is not what the public wants to hear.
Finance Minister Christos Staikouras says this year’s TIF will be a “strange affair” conducted in the shadow of the coronavirus pandemic and the disastrous wildfires that have engulfed parts of Greece.
He adds that the government must send an optimistic message by emphasizing longer-term goals but also not seem to ignore what is worrying citizens at the moment.
In any case, Staikouras says, everything will depend on the fiscal margins available and every announcement must be cleared with the country’s creditors.