Household Basket may go on

New Minister of Development Kostas Skrekas left open the possibility of a continuation of the “Household Basket” measure following the new cabinet’s swearing-in ceremony on Tuesday, referring, however, to the announcements that the prime minister will make on Wednesday at the first meeting of the new government.

“The immediate priority is to combat price hikes and largely imported inflation. The basket is a useful tool to tame inflation. We will continue this,” he said.

Both the measure of the Household Basket and that of the ceiling on profit margins had been foreseen ceasing to apply on June 30, with the supermarket chains participating in the former obliged to send price lists for the last time on Wednesday.

In case of an extension, there are two possible scenarios: The measure will cease to apply after June 30 and be re-legislated when the new Parliament is formed and relevant legislation is in place, or it will continue informally so that when there is legislation in place it will apply with retroactive effect. In this case, of course, there will be relevant instructions both to the monitoring mechanisms of the ministry and to the participating companies.

Another key priority set by Skrekas is the facilitation of business, through the further simplification of the licensing process and the fight against bureaucracy. It is noted that the competence on the investment incentives law, as well as the rules on strategic investments, remains with the Development Ministry.

The new minister noted the need for more funding to be directed toward research, innovation and technology, while he made special reference to industry and its further growth, as a key pillar for the sustainable growth of Greece.

Although Skrekas recalled that he is in familiar territory, as he had served as development minister for a few months at end-2014, when the country was in a very difficult situation, he said: “The challenges are always great and we have to solve problems. The country is on a growth path, but this should not only last for two years. If we want to approach the European average, it will have to expand every year.”