Greek Finance Minister Christos Staikouras on Wednesday forecast higher GDP growth this year, while predicting that the annual inflation rate will level-off at 4.5 percent, speaking at the annual Delphi economic forum, and with a direct view to the coming May 21 general election.
Speaking amid a now official campaign period, Staikouras forecast that economic growth this year will reach 2.3 percent, up from a previous 2-percent forecast.
In echoing incumbent Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ pre-election pledges from a day earlier, the Greek FinMin said “available economic space” will be fully exploited to raise the minimum monthly wage, increase the tax-free ceiling for annual incomes and even increase wages in the public sector.
He also reiterated that a second consecutive Mitsotakis government – assuming an election result on May 21, or subsequent election weeks later, is favorable for center-right New Democracy (ND) – will seek lower social security contributions and abolition of an annual “trade fee” payment (between 500 to 650 euros) for self-employed professionals, “under the condition, for the second, that tax evasion is further restricted,” he added.
Asked why the VAT rate was not cut for foodstuffs, amid a surge in the inflation rate for the latter, he said a similar measure costs 1.4 billion euros, something that necessitate an equal fiscal off-set measure, while expressing reservations on whether any cuts in the VAT rate would reach consumers.
