ECONOMY

Finance minister says tax changes to be revisited in October

Finance minister says tax changes to be revisited in October

Finance Minister Christos Staikouras said on Thursday that the government will address the issue of additional tax cuts after October as any decisions will depend on the course of the coronavirus pandemic, on Greece’s fiscal performance and on the cash the country has in its coffers.

“Once this parenthesis closes, we will go back to where we were before the crisis, with tax cuts… we will review the situation in October,” Staikouras told Skai TV in an interview.

The Greek government on Wednesday pledged to reduced value-added tax on transport and catering services as part of efforts to prop up battered tourism-related businesses, but has not yet agreed on other cuts being demanded by other sectors.

However, Staikouras did suggest that the government may introduce reductions to social security benefits paid by employers and employees, a measure that it seen as essential to protecting jobs.

“I insist on the value and notion of social security contributions, which are a lot more valuable in a ‘new’ economy,” the finance minister said.

Staikouras also brushed off rumors that the government is considering reductions to civil service pensions and salaries as a means of offsetting losses from the two-month lockdown.

“There is no such scenario and no such thought on the table of the Finance Ministry,” he said.

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