PM: Investment grade feasible in H1 2023

The government’s goal for Greece’s return to investment grade in 2023 is feasible, according to Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who met on Wednesday with Hellenic Federation of Enterprises (SEV) President Dimitri Papalexopoulos in the context of SEV’s annual General Assembly.

Mitsotakis referred to the “comparative advantages” that Greece has, while noting it is no longer treated “as an unpleasant peculiarity.” The 12-year cycle, he said, of “suffering and pain” is now officially closed with the exit of the country from the regime of enhanced supervision. He said he considers the achievement of investment grade “fully feasible for the first half of 2023.”

Mitsotakis noted the problem of inflation, “the likes of which we have not experienced for 40 years.” “We will experience an environment with sharp interest rate increases and this has some important implications for our country, but also for entrepreneurship, as well, as we will all be called upon to borrow at a higher cost,” he said. 

He also referred to the government’s forthcoming interventions regarding fuel prices. “Targeted interventions are imperative in fuel, and announcements are expected next week,” he said. Hinting at what to expect, he said, “There will be no announcements that will intervene horizontally, at least in gasoline, because diesel has other characteristics, as it can also affect the supply chain.”

For gasoline, he stressed, “The intervention will not be horizontal in terms of tax reduction,” adding, “I have a full sense of the deterioration of the budget of households and businesses from what is happening with inflation. But on the other hand, we still have resilience as an economy.”