Greece's Deputy Prime Minister Kostis Hatzidakis has published an article assessing the government's economic announcements a week after Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis's keynote speech at the Thessaloniki International Fair. Writing in the newspaper Apogevmatini, Hatzidakis set out five conclusions, saying he wanted to avoid both celebration and doom-mongering, according to the Athens-Macedonian News Agency.
The Thessaloniki International Fair is an annual trade exhibition in northern Greece where the prime minister traditionally delivers a major policy speech each September, setting out economic measures and fiscal plans for the year ahead.
A 2.2 billion euro package
Hatzidakis said the government had again chosen the path of seriousness. He said it would of course like to give more, especially months before an election, but that the economy and the budget have limits, and European fiscal rules exist. He said Mitsotakis presented a specific, costed package worth 2.2 billion euros for 2027, covering all major social groups.
Unlike those who promise the world, Hatzidakis said the government promises less so that it can deliver in full. He noted that in both the 2019 and 2023 elections, Greek voters chose the party that promised the least, which he said was significant in itself.
Where the money comes from
Hatzidakis said the measures did not fall from the sky and that the money does not come from politicians' own pockets. He said it comes from economic growth and from curbing tax evasion, pointing to what he called an interesting paradox: taxes are being cut even as public revenue rises.
He rejected opposition accusations that citizens are being overtaxed, saying it is the current government that has cut 91 different taxes and social contributions. He said the additional revenue comes from growth and from reduced tax evasion, not from higher taxes.
Growth dividend and the opposition
Hatzidakis said that as the economy grows, social policy will keep expanding, describing this as the recipe the government has followed in recent years, with the aim of increasing the "growth dividend" returned to citizens each time.
He asked what the government would gain by suddenly acting, shortly before elections, like Alexis Tsipras, leader of the left-wing Syriza party, or Nikos Androulakis, leader of the socialist Pasok party, and promising everything to everyone. He said this would politically destroy what the government has built over the years and, worse, would again gamble with the sacrifices made by Greeks, adding that the country had already lived through that scenario and had no reason to repeat it.
A program for 'Greece 2030'
Hatzidakis said the prime minister had not only presented a list of measures but also the main outlines of a program for what he called "Greece of 2030," the coordination of which Hatzidakis said he has personally taken on.
He said the government would pursue, over the next four years, a more productive and competitive economy, a more effective state, more opportunities for young people and families with children, and a country more strongly shielded against traditional and hybrid threats. He said the government would not ask citizens for a vote of gratitude for what it has already done, but for a vote of realistic hope for what still needs to be done.
Political stability and 'autonomy'
Hatzidakis said opposition parties do not merely rule out cooperating with his party, New Democracy, the governing center-right party led by Mitsotakis since 2019. He said none of the opposition parties wants to cooperate with any other, and that they instead attack one another, often competing in personal attacks and extreme rhetoric, which he described as a peculiar form of political stone-throwing.
He said this was the reason people then ask why the government talks about winning a single-party majority: because, given how the political landscape has taken shape, his party is the only one Greeks can rely on, while the rest have nothing to offer but instability. He said it would be a real shame if the country's recent national successes were lost as a result.
What comes next
Hatzidakis said the real "reckoning" of the Thessaloniki fair speech will not come from applause or from next week's opinion polls. He said it will come when citizens see the difference in their pockets and in their daily lives, and when, closer to the election, they compare New Democracy with its opponents, meaning their leaders, their teams and their programs, and weigh which offers the better prospects.
He said that is where the government will ultimately be judged. He said he was not claiming everything had been done correctly or that every problem had been solved, but that Greece today stands much higher than it did in 2019 and can go higher still. He said this requires work, modesty and effectiveness until the elections, and stability, reforms and common sense afterward, adding that the country has already paid a heavy price in the past for big words and unworkable promises and has no reason to pay that price again.
