“Since 2019, Greece has been changing through projects and reforms, not words. Projects and reforms that give new momentum to the economy and translate that momentum into more jobs, improved incomes and a better everyday life. Projects require resources, and resources require sound fiscal management and tough negotiations with our partners,” Papathanasis said during the debate and vote on the bill of the Ministry of National Economy and Finance titled “New National Development Program – Transfer of the Community Aid Payments and Control Organization (OPEKEPE) to the Independent Authority for Public Revenue and other provisions.”

He noted that supporting competitiveness, productivity and entrepreneurship is at the core of the new National Development Program for 2026–2030, which amounts to €22.4 billion and is more than double that of the 2021–2025 programming period. At the same time, the new Public Investment Development Program will reach €14.6 billion in 2025 and €16.7 billion in 2026.

“We will meet all economic targets and, at the same time, we are claiming even more resources. Negotiations for the new 2028–2034 programming period are now beginning—a period that is not included in the Medium-Term Fiscal-Structural Plan. As Greece, we want the negotiations at the European level to be concluded as soon as possible, so that the additional funds can benefit the economy and society,” he said.

The alternate minister added that in 2025 Greece will absorb €4.9 billion from the Recovery and Resilience Facility. He also questioned why, in the recent past, Greece had never managed to secure comparable resources, and why the opposition today does not vote in favor of the proposed provisions included in the bill, such as those concerning loans denominated in Swiss francs.

“On the one hand you call for consensus, and on the other you do not vote in favor. Greece is moving forward. We believe that with sound fiscal policy, with the country’s growth trajectory, with support for workers and with the creation of competition, we will achieve what we want and what our fellow citizens are asking for: a Greece with low unemployment, more jobs and better-paid employment,” he stressed.