Minister praises handling of unprecedented crisis

The government “handled an unprecedented economic crisis in all fields and at all levels methodically, with seriousness and insight. It supported public health, it supported households and businesses with measures approaching 40 billion euros in the period 2020-2021,” Finance Minister Christos Staikouras said on Thursday at the second Regional Growth Conference in Patra, western Greece.

He also said that for 2021 the measures “are in the vicinity of €16 billion, since the funds have not yet been fully disbursed. An amount of €4.5 billion is pending to be paid in the second half of the year, through various programs that we have put together, coherently, as a government.”

Staikouras pointed out that “these were possible through the rational systematic management of the country’s cash reserves, through frequent communication and contact with the markets, through the raising of €25 billion in the last two years on extremely favorable terms with historically low interest rates, by raising funds through interest-bearing bonds with systematically negative interest rates, the lowest interest rate on six-month bonds, but also through European funds, such as the SURE program, from which the country has already raised more than €5 billion and has channelled it all into employment.”