The government of conservative Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis detailed several measures on Monday, September 9, to improve the purchasing power of Greeks. However, the left-wing opposition considers these advances to be too weak.
When the right gives in to public spending. In an attempt to counter the high cost of living in Greece, where purchasing power is one of the lowest in the EU, the government of conservative Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis promised on Monday, September 9, wage increases, including the minimum income, and an increase in pensions. The executive “wants to prioritize issues such as demographics, housing, climate change“, Finance Minister Kostis Hadzidakis said at a press conference.
Detailing a series of measures announced last Saturday by Kyriakos Mitsotakis, his Minister of Finance announced a rise in pensions from 2% to 2.5% starting next January. The head of government, whose right-wing government is facing a drop in popularity, had announced during a highly anticipated back-to-school speech the increase in the minimum wage from the current 830 euros gross to 950 euros by 2027, as well as the increase in salaries in the public sector.
“Peanuts” for the opposition
In total, more than twenty measures must be adopted, including a one-point reduction in social security contributions and the exemption from taxation of empty apartments or houses. The entire project has a cost of around one billion euros and is added to the initial budgetary expenditure forecasts of 2.8 billion euros for 2025. The Greek government is waiting for the green light from the European Commission to implement them.
The left-wing opposition Syriza, however, criticised the announced increases, “which do not cover inflation» (2.7% in July over one year) recalling that «Real household income is falling rapidly». «Peanuts for retirees“, commented a columnist in the centre-left daily Ta Néa on Monday.
Despite continued growth in Greece in recent years (+2% in 2023) after a decade of crisis during which the country lost a quarter of its gross domestic product (GDP), the standard of living remains one of the lowest in the European Union. According to Eurostat figures, in 2023, the country had the second lowest GDP per capita in terms of purchasing power in the EU, while the average annual income is only half the European average.
