Dev. Min.- VAT reduction open

The Minister of Development and Investment, Adonis Georgiadis, left open the possibility of reducing the VAT on a series of products to curb accuracy, speaking last night on Mega and on the show “Megali Ikona”.

The minister said that the government is considering reducing the VAT rate on certain products, adding that this is a measure that is under investigation in order, through tax relief, to intervene on certain types of products and to curb the inflation wave that the country is experiencing.

More specifically, he stated: “We are studying the housewife’s basket to see where it is going to fluctuate in the coming months. We are working to see where we are going to have the biggest increases in the next period, to see this issue as well, and if it is possible to intervene in certain items through taxation so that we can alleviate this inevitable inflation wave.

“The possibility is open for this measure, if we see that the increases are excessive, to take additional measures to control the wave of inflation. I assure you that the government and the Prime Minister personally are poring over this issue, as for everything else. We have not left anyone to fend off for themselves. We are undertaking this exercise for the housewife’s basket to consider the measures we can take, to make this less painful. We all understand that the next 2 to 3 months will be difficult in terms of inflation.”

It is recalled that yesterday the political leadership of the Ministry of Development and Investment had a teleconference with representatives of supermarkets to deal with price increases in basic products while it will hold a teleconference with major suppliers, ie basically the major food industries, in view of announcements from ELSTAT.

It is noted that on January 13, the announcements of ELSTAT for the inflation of December 2021 are expected and there will be a clear position for the course of prices. But in the meantime, as the minister said, consumers are already facing a new round of price increases, which the government is trying to manage.

However, based on what was mentioned in yesterday’s teleconference and conveyed by the minister himself to MEGA television, the retail chains and suppliers in the previous period tried to absorb the increases as much as they could, which mainly come from the launch of raw materials and energy, while the margins to absorb further increases have been exhausted, especially due to energy costs, which at the level of operating expenses for supermarkets reaches 20% of the total cost.

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According to information, the representatives of the market, stated yesterday in the teleconference, that the energy cost has now tripled and that is why they asked for the measure of the state energy subsidy to be extended for the next months of the year, while at the same time they raised the issue of raw materials, ie the 45% increase in aluminum that burdens the cost of packaging, the 45% increase in oil that pushes up the cost of transport, but also the rise in natural gas prices.

Support measures

The minister also referred to the existing support measures against the spread of the coronavirus. He explained that the government would decide on support measures depending on how long companies were affected by the music ban and the limited opening hours.

As Mr. Georgiadis noted, within a week the government will re-evaluate the epidemiological situation to decide whether the measures that put restrictions on businesses will be lifted.

More specifically, he said: “We had a meeting on the measures. We will have one again in two days after we see the epidemiological situation. It would be a good idea if we could lift the measures, mainly the ban on music and opening hours, at the end of the current period, ie on January 16th. Whether this will be possible or whether it should be extended until the end of January will be something we will know this week depending on the epidemiological picture we have for the next two days. The support measures for the affected companies will also depend on the decision we take for this measure.”