Healthy public finances are needed for growth
The commitment to fiscal seriousness is independent of the EU’s fiscal rules, as healthy public finances are a prerequisite for sustainable development, Minister of National Economy and Finance Kostis Hatzidakis said on Monday at an event organized by the State Budget Office in the Parliament, in the context of the annual OECD conference on public finances, hosted by Greece.
Hatzidakis stated that “fiscal prudence, tax reduction combined with tackling tax evasion and structural reforms to improve the business environment and attract investment, are the pillars of economic policy that have yielded positive results in the past five years and will be maintained by accelerating the rate of their implementation.”
Analyzing the pillars of the economic policy, Hatzidakis noted that the commitment to fiscal soundness is independent of EU fiscal rules, as sound public finances are a prerequisite for sustainable growth. “In the coming years we expect primary surpluses above 2% of GDP, while the public debt is expected to decline further, reaching 146% of GDP in 2025,” he stated.
In the area of taxation, the policy will focus on tackling tax evasion, not only for reasons of fairness but also because it allows for a simultaneous increase in public revenue and a reduction in the tax burden on businesses and households.
