Hatzidakis: Efficiency is the main target

The point is “not whether we will go to the right or to the left, but whether we bring results,” Economy and Finance Minister Kostis Hatzidakis said in an interview with Skai TV on Tuesday, commenting on the European Parliament elections.

“The main thing is for us to be efficient, serious, composed, and to listen to the people, but basically to be efficient as regards day-to-day matters,” Hatzidakis underlined, adding that fear and arrogance “make poor counselors.”

He added that “there are everyday battles that we must fight with the utmost determination but also without fear of the political cost. They are the issues of health, public administration, policing, law enforcement, justice, housing, rents and, obviously, the hikes in prices.”

Asked about the possibility of lowering VAT, the minister noted that countries, such as Spain, which adopted the measure now have higher inflation than Greece, while Spain’s ruling party lost in the European elections. “We didn’t do this because, as has happened before in Greece, the reduction in VAT is not passed on to the consumer,” Hatzidakis explained.