ATHENS – The Greek government is gearing up to counter the prevailing negative social climate with a robust package of economic relief measures, set to be announced by the Prime Minister in September from the podium of the Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF).
Sources reveal that the government’s economic team is already hard at work, assessing the fiscal space available to roll out a series of initiatives aimed at supporting vulnerable groups and the middle class. Final decisions are slated for the summer, once a clearer picture of the country’s fiscal capacity emerges.
Key Measures Under Consideration
The cornerstone interventions being explored include:
- Reinstatement of the 13th Pension: A permanent pensioner allowance, akin to the 13th pension scrapped during the memorandum era, is in the works. Depending on budgetary constraints, this could involve either full or partial reinstatement.
- Abolition of ENFIA for Primary Residences: This flagship proposal would eliminate the ENFIA property tax for all primary homeowners. The Ministry of Finance is evaluating the measure’s cost and exploring compensatory mechanisms to offset revenue losses.
- Tax Rate Reductions: Targeting incomes between 10,000 and 40,000 euros, the government aims to ease the tax burden on the middle class by lowering rates—currently at 22%, 28%, and 36%—by 2 to 3 percentage points.
- Elimination of Pension Personal Difference: Affecting roughly 600,000 pensioners, this measure would scrap the “personal difference” introduced during pension recalculations, which has barred many from annual increases. The move is seen as a socially just priority.
Target Groups
The package zeroes in on pensioners—a politically pivotal demographic—the middle class, widely regarded as society’s backbone, and self-employed professionals, who have faced steep tax hikes in recent years.
Political Stakes
With time running out, government officials are keenly aware that failure to shift public sentiment by autumn could narrow their window for recovery. Surveys underscore the urgency, prompting a strategy that balances economic relief with fiscal discipline.
Determined to act decisively, the Prime Minister is reportedly ready to “open the purse strings” and unveil measures that promise tangible improvements to citizens’ quality of life. The announcement is poised to signal a broader narrative of economic rebound and social care, six years after Greece’s exit from the bailout programs.
As the government fine-tunes its plans, all eyes will be on the TIF address, where these proposals could reshape the political and economic landscape ahead of the new fiscal year.
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