We want to incentivize landlords to increase the supply of apartments, especially small and medium-sized apartments, to meet the needs of the social class that feels the most pressure, Finance Minister Kostis Hatzidakis said in an interview with ‘Kathimerini’ published on Sunday.
Asked if there be any intervention for short-term rentals, he responded:
“Short-term rentals are very useful because they increase the available beds and in this way help the country’s tourism and at the same time increase the income of tens of thousands of our fellow citizens. On the other hand, it is certain that in some districts, as is the case abroad, they create some malformations. We are carefully examining the picture in all individual areas and we will intervene in a spirit of justice, without creating an issue in the short-term rental market, but also without ignoring the effects created in several cases, especially in Athens.”
Regarding the Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF), he said that “we will seek to combine three things: to update our policy responding to contemporary challenges such as climate change, demographics, housing, to respond to justified requests from society to support those who are really in need, but also not to undermine the country’s economic position and the progress we have achieved so far.”
Hatzidakis noted to ‘Kathimerini’ that “Greece today is out of the woods, it has made great progress in the last five years, but it has not become Switzerland or Sweden. The effort must continue in earnest, combining fiscal discipline with a pro-investment policy.”
He added that in the last five years, this mixture has worked and Greece has climbed many steps. “This can be seen in the significant reduction in unemployment, in the increase in investment, in exports, in wages. In the last year Greece returned to investment grade, which means that for the loans we took this year alone, we will have a benefit of 800 million euros over a period of 10 years. We passed a tax reform, we promoted measures to fight tax evasion, such as the interconnection of card readers (POS) with cash registers, and 10 privatizations were completed. Our banks have entered a new phase with divestment and the entry of private investors. The country is among the first to absorb resources from the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF) and the EU Recovery Fund. We adopted a series of modernization initiatives for the Growthfund, with the aim of turning its subsidiaries into businesses like Public Power Corporation and creating a National Investment Fund. We’ve raised tax revenue without raising taxes and sent the message that we want laws to apply at all levels, whether that’s [fighting] tax evasion or enforcing the law on the beaches. It is in this spirit that we will proceed from here on.”
SOURCE; ANA-MPA
