October opens with a critical fortnight for Greece’s energy costs. The first round of support at the pump has been agreed, attention now turns to heating oil, and Athens is waiting to see how its European partners respond to the proposals it has already put forward for greater room to help households and businesses.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis set out the timetable at yesterday’s cabinet meeting. With the international situation remaining “extremely fluid”, he said, the government will now review its measures “every fortnight”.

He repeated his warning of a “difficult winter”, linking geopolitical uncertainty to energy prices, transport and, ultimately, the cost of goods.

By the middle of the month, it should be clear how large the intervention on heating oil will be, and whether there is appetite in Europe for the debate Athens has opened.

The target

The first decision concerns diesel. The subsidy for the first half of October rises from 10 cents to 15 cents a litre, while the refineries are also contributing to efforts to hold down the price. Heating oil is next.

Announcements will come before sales officially open on 15 October, with the government waiting for the most recent picture of international prices before it settles on its intervention.

Mitsotakis has set a target for heating oil to start the season below €1.75 a litre, the level at which the previous season closed in April. The wait until the final days reflects how quickly the situation can change.

The prime minister noted that even “the slightest tension” on a pipeline or an oil field in the Gulf could push prices up again. The economic team has also left the door open to further measures if conditions worsen. Finance Minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis, who also serves as president of the Eurogroup, told Alpha TV that Greece is able to support citizens and businesses again if needed, adding that “Greece has built up reserves”.

What Athens wants

The question of how much further that support can go has already been passed to Brussels. According to Bloomberg, Mitsotakis has written to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposing that the EU consider exempting temporary measures taken by member states, up to a set limit, from the relevant fiscal calculations.

The same letter suggests that EU countries should be allowed to use the additional VAT revenue generated by the unexpected rise in the general price level to support households and businesses.

Pierrakakis summed up the financial side of the request in a single line: “We are not asking for a tax, we are asking for space.”