Gov’t seeking fiscal leeway for new support measures in July
Finance Minister Christos Staikouras said Saturday that his ministry is “seeking fiscal leeway” for new support measures in July, to relieve the pressure from rising costs for households.
He said the ministry will know by June’s end whether more can be done on rising fuel prices but added that “not much can be done” about the unified tax on fuel.
“If we were to reduce this tax by 20 cents of a euro the overall cost for the state would reach 20 billion euros,” he said.
The available fiscal space has so far been spent on reducing the property tax (ENFIA) and costs in electricity bills for households.
On reducing the so-called solidarity tax, Staikouras noted that this has been fixed to take effect for private sector workers in 2023 at a cost of 450 mln euros, but that additional fiscal space is being sought to implement this in the civil service too.
[AMNA]
