Greek prime minister announces tax relief as economy improves

After years of financial crisis, the Greek economy has improved so much that the Prime Minister announced 1.7 billion euros ($ 2 billion) of large tax relief measures and noted that Greece now has better bond market conditions than France.

In the comments made on Saturday evening at the opening of the most important economic fair in the country in the port city of Thessaloniki, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis underlined the drop in unemployment rates, growing investments and an improved budgetary situation. He noted that the national deficit has decreased considerably.

“The former country of crisis now shows one of the highest rates of economic growth in Europe,” he said.

Unemployment fell at only 8% – a contrast striking with the peak of the financial crisis when it reached 28%, youth unemployment at 60%.

From 2010, Greece was on the verge of bankruptcy and risked being expelled from the euro zone. The country has only survived the crisis with the aid of international bailout.

The latest austerity and reform program ended in 2018. However, Greece still has the highest national product (GDP) ratio in the European Union, exceeding 150%.

Favorable obligation rate

Despite this, Greece is now comparing favorably within the EU. Mitsotakis symbolically underlined the difference in interest rates with France: in 2015, Greece had to borrow from 9.18%, while French government obligations were 1.16%.

Today, Greek bonds at 10 years are 3.33%, below 3.44% in France.

Thanks to the stable budgetary situation, Mitsotakis has announced targeted reduction measures: families with children will pay much less income tax, and in many cases, none at all. Young people under 25 with income up to € 20,000 will also be exempt from income tax.