Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced on Wednesday morning a new round of measures aimed at easing pressure on households and businesses, including increased support for diesel fuel, expanded debt repayment plans and stronger protections for borrowers dealing with loan servicers. The government will increase its subsidy for diesel at the pump from 10 cents to 15 cents per liter for the first 15 days of October. Together with discounts offered by refiners, Mitsotakis said the total reduction would reach 20 cents per liter. Speaking at a Cabinet meeting, the prime minister described a chain of storms sweeping across Europe and said the government’s aim was to support society without undermining the economy’s ability to withstand the pressure. “We don’t need another national crisis on top of a global one,” he said. He said the measures would be reviewed every 15 days, depending on how the situation develops.
The Prime Minister also suggested that any broader response should have European backing. He announced that Greece is submitting a proposal to Brussels that would give European Union member states emergency flexibility on their budgets to deal with the crisis.
Heating oil
On heating oil, Mitsotakis said the price would be kept below €1.75 per liter, the level at which last winter’s season ended. Details will be announced before Oct. 15, when sales are set to begin.
The figure repeats one he gave on Sept. 17 in an interview with the state broadcaster ERT, when he said a support package would be announced the following week. The Prime Minister had suggested at the time that the new measures would include a blanket increase in heating allowances, and that the government was considering bringing back a cap on profit margins. Neither was among the four measures announced Wednesday.
A separate tax bill
The Cabinet also took up a bill that would put into law the tax cuts and income support measures announced by the Prime Minister at the Thessaloniki International Fair in early September. The bill includes measures that would impact pensioners, self-employed workers, farmers, families with three children and public-sector employees, among others.
At the pump
HELLENiQ ENERGY separately announced Wednesday that it would extend its existing discounts on gasoline and diesel through Oct. 14. The company is offering fuel retailers a discount of 7.95 cents per liter before VAT on 95 octane unleaded gasoline and 4.05 cents on diesel. The discounts have been in place since July 14.
