Speaking on Monday morning, Minister of Finance Kyriakos Pierrakakis spoke of a double shield of protection for heating oil.

As he explained to SKAI, “the first part has to do with the fact that if it opened today, it would be at €2. We have said that the year will start below where it ended last year, at €1.75. We also have the heating allowance. There will be an across-the-board increase without changing the criteria or the beneficiaries.”

He pointed out that “France holds the G7 presidency, convened a summit, and I understand that the proposal of the French presidency is to release reserves so that the price of oil will fall.”

He also stressed that “there are reserves for the worst-case scenarios as well. The opposition had been telling us since the spring, ‘give everything now.’ We held the Thessaloniki International Fair and two weeks later we are coming to make announcements to support people against high energy costs. Reserves are not unlimited; the move being made by the Greek economy and government is something that other countries cannot do.”

Asked about the possibility of reducing the Special Consumption Tax, he explained that “in politics, you have to be able to do all the calculations; it is not about wishful thinking. The Prime Minister said that beyond the national measures — we are third as a percentage of GDP for purely energy-related measures — we are not concerned about the tax but about the fiscal space. Whether it is the Special Consumption Tax, €4.2 billion a year, that is, two Thessaloniki International Fairs, or VAT, €2 billion, what matters to us is whether, if we move into the worst-case scenarios, we will have the fiscal space to support citizens. We can commit that Greece will do everything possible, within the framework of its national and fiscal capabilities, to support people.”

Asked, also, about the out-of-court mechanism and the shield being put in place from today for primary residences, the Minister of Finance said, “we wanted to create an effective mechanism for primary residences. This is the one that was introduced today, not the Katseli Law. Here we are saying that the out-of-court mechanism is being transformed into a tool for primary residences. The out-of-court mechanism has already provided 70,000 debt settlements, we reduced the amount required for eligibility, and now we are turning it into a tool for protecting primary residences. People will pay, but according to their means.”

Finally, asked to comment on the outcome of the elections in two German states on Sunday night, with the AfD gaining further ground, Kyriakos Pierrakakis replied: “As a Greek Minister of Finance and MP, I will say that we have experienced in our country what populism means. Populists know how to describe problems well but not how to provide solutions in the best-case scenario. In the worst case, they come along and add just as many more when they are in government. There is one recipe for all of us who want to provide solutions to problems: speed, stepping on the gas when it comes to changes, and care for every citizen. We will be there to support every step taken by European governments that want to achieve this.”