“I remind you of the reduction of direct taxation of farmers already in the first year of our term in relation to SYRIZA. The VAT on fertilizers and animal feed which fell to 6%, the VAT on agricultural machinery which fell to 13%, the return of the excise duty in 22′ and 23′, – it was not returned earlier now it will be returned and in fact with an advance payment of 24′- and the prime minister announced that this refund of the excise duty will also be made permanent. At the same time, we have extremely positive regulations with an extension for 8 years”.
“For the compensations, there is enough money that has been given in the context of the first aid, coordinated by Mr. Triandopoulos. We realize that we cannot give money unchecked for natural disasters because it would be ‘helicopter money’ for which we would ultimately be held accountable by the people themselves,” he said.
“Only the Ministry of Infrastructure has built and passed special legislation for this projects that approach one billion in Thessaly and the surrounding areas that were affected.”
“We’ve already exceeded our budget”
Asked if any of the farmers’ demands will be met, he clarified: “We cannot do anything further because we have already exceeded the budget’s capacity since the beginning of the year for farmers, doctors and birth allowance. We have given 212 million more than the budget projections calculated in December. Of course the budget is being executed normally and that’s why we were able and gave this money, we guess we can support it, but there are limits”.
“I don’t see emergency aid on the horizon for Easter”
Regarding the Easter allowance, he said: I don’t see anything on the horizon, however it will depend on how things develop. The Prime Minister has said that he has just ‘dried the ink on the budget’. In last year’s budget we thought that due to the double elections and the disasters in Thessaly we would have an issue, but it overperformed because the economy overperformed.”
“Our first job is not to hand out things we don’t have, our first job is to make the economy work properly. We will never give more than what we can handle,” he stressed.
“On March 22 the minimum wage increase”
Regarding the minimum wage, he said: “On March 22, the minimum wage will increase. The minimum wage has gone from 650 to 780, when the cabinet decides the first number will be “8”, not “9”. We were 18th in the EU and now we’re 12th, I’m not bragging regarding it, it’s a reality. The average salary has also gone up from 1046 to 1258. I am not claiming that people’s problems have been solved. Savings were 150 billion in 2019 and now reached 200 billion, 50 billion increase 30 out of 50 come from households. Greece has climbed several steps in the economy”.
“IRIS has zero fees for money transfers up to 500 euros”
About IRIS charges: “From citizen to citizen the charges are zero up to 500 euros. If the citizen goes to a freelancer who has made an IRIS account and makes a deposit to his account of up to 500 euros, there will still be no charge. The professional, depending on the bank he has, may pay a small fee – however, lower than what the same professional would pay if he used other methods.
I understand that from the IRIS system they may be annoyed with other competitors.’
“February 29 deadline set for POS interconnection”
Regarding the POS: “The interface of the POS with the cash registers will definitely be done not only because tax evasion is being dealt with but because the issue has been included in the recovery fund for three years as a milestone which means that if it is not done the financing of country in part. So we will proceed rain or shine. A deadline of February 29 has been set. In today’s meeting with the bankers we will discuss regarding POS”.
“Banks to maintain the lowest fees for mortgages this year”
Mr. Hatzidakis asked the banks to maintain the low mortgage interest rates once more this year.
“We not only hope, but cannot imagine that the banks will not extend the lower mortgage rates they adopted last year for a year. Because the interest rates at the European level remain high, we believe that they will move in that direction”, said the Minister.
In addition, Mr. Hatzidakis underlined that this results both from the good image of the Greek economy and from the acquisition of the investment grade. “What we must not forget is that our banks have been crippled for the past decade and if we don’t have a healthy banking system, we don’t have a healthy economy. If you look at the data, you will see that interest rates have gone up all over Europe and of course in Greece as well. The difference in interest rates compared to last year has narrowed. In other words, the average difference between European interest rates and Greek interest rates is smaller precisely because the economy has progressed and we have the investment grade. Another positive result of the investment tier”, as the Minister said.
Regarding the interest rate spread on loans and deposits, Mr. Hatzidakis said that “apart from interest rates on savings bank deposits, which are really small, the banks have no reason to increase them in the sense that they have 112 billion loans and 200 billion. deposits. So they have no reason to give higher interest rates to collect money, because they have money. But there are other possibilities for consumers.”
As the Minister said, citizens have the possibility to choose among other products provided by the banks, regarding which they themselves should inform consumers more, and the interest-bearing Treasury bills, with an interest rate of 4%. “We don’t say: ‘go get this’ or ‘go get the other bank products.’ Everyone is a free citizen to do what they want,” he noted.
He also mentioned the possibility of non-banking institutions giving loans. “What we want is for competition to work. And that is why we are investing in the 5th pillar of the banking system and with a law passed in December, we allowed non-banking institutions, as is done in many other European countries, to give loans not only for consumption, but also for housing and some business. Because we want to strengthen the competition”, he said.
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