PM heralds boost of 6.8 bln for economy
Apart from the expenditure he pledged at the weekend for Greece’s ambitious military upgrade, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis also announced economic measures to tackle the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, including tax cuts and the extension of subsidies.
The economic package adds up to 6.8 billion euros injected into the economy, he said during his speech on the grounds of the Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF).
Mitsotakis announced a total of 12 initiatives that will form the basis of a roadmap of economic recovery leading into 2021. The measures, he said, aim to protect employment and productive activity and to support the income of the financially weak “in the difficult period that lies ahead of us.”
Four of the new measures, he said, support work, three support business liquidity and investment, and another five support the incomes of the weakest. Among these initiatives is the decision to reduce social insurance contributions for 2021 by 3 points from 39.7% to 36.7% and to scrap the solidarity levy in 2021 for private sector employees, self-employed professionals and farmers. What’s more, a subsidy scheme for 100,000 new jobs is being established, while the SynErgasia labor subsidy program is being extended until the end of 2020.
All unemployment benefits are extended for two months while a third cycle of favorable financing for small and medium-sized enterprises will begin. In addition, the ENFIA property tax has been scrapped for 26 small islands.
For those employed in professional sectors affected by the pandemic, the obligation to pay insurance contributions and debts to the tax office is postponed until 2021 while reduction of VAT rates was extended for six months. Moreover, the primary residence of vulnerable households with unpaid loans is not in danger of being auctioned until the end of 2020.
