Although, calendar-wise, we are still a little over two months away from the Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF) opening its doors on the first weekend of September, the first planning exercises regarding the size of the package and what it may include are already underway within the economic and government staff.

For Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ planning, the package that will be outlined and the targets it will include are expected to be extremely critical parameters for the electoral outcome, given Mr. Mitsotakis’ stated intention to hold elections in the spring of 2027.

Beyond the institutional approach, the Prime Minister is reportedly of the view that citizens will not support the government unless they see income-support measures reflected in their own pockets, something that is also supported by polling data following last year’s TIF, compared with New Democracy’s polling performance from December onward.

The Thessaloniki package is expected to include additional tax cuts and more. “There is already fiscal space of €1 billion. Hopefully it will increase a bit further, always within the spending ceilings,” associates of the Prime Minister noted, adding that “we, who reduced or abolished 83 direct and indirect taxes, have the credibility to look people in the eye and tell them that yes, because further tax relief is justifiably needed, we who found the money for those 83 tax cuts can also find the money for the remaining ones.” “There will be room for new measures, that is certain, I can tell you that right now. There will be fiscal space and there will be targeted support for society,” Finance Minister and Eurogroup President Kyriakos Pierrakakis also said yesterday while speaking on MAX FM in Patras, upon arriving in the Achaean capital for the inauguration of the new offices of the “blue” prefectural party organization in Patras. Moreover, the blue campaign tour continues today in Western Greece, with the political academy being held in Agrinio and visits by senior party officials across Aetolia-Acarnania, Achaia, and Ilia.

The scope of the measures and the exact policy mix are expected, as is customary, to be finalized at the end of August and depending on available fiscal reserves. After all, tourism revenues must also be taken into account, depending on the flow of arrivals. In any case, tax cuts are expected, with an eye on the self-employed, the market, and the middle class. The political narrative, which is of decisive importance to the logic behind the package, also remains to be finalized.

Government officials contrast what they describe as responsible government planning for the Thessaloniki announcements with what they call the uncosted promises of Nikos Androulakis and Alexis Tsipras regarding free public transportation. “Androulakis and Tsipras are competing in fake promises and ‘free’ transportation. We remind you that the PASOK president announced measures worth €4–5 billion at the TIF when the available fiscal space is €1.76 billion and every additional expenditure must be covered by higher taxation, while he later returned with flashy proposals for free transportation for young people up to 24 years old. Mr. Tsipras is also promising uncosted proposals worth many billions of euros, reviving ‘I won’t pay’ logic in public transportation and promising wage increases without saying where he will find the money,” government officials emphasize, even referring to ambiguous statements by figures within ELAS regarding the so-called “patriotic contribution” and other issues.