The prime minister will be presenting targeted interventions at the 88th Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF), government spokesperson Pavlos Marinakis said in an interview with OPEN TV on Wednesday.
“This year also, as in previous TIFs where Kyriakos Mitsotakis has spoken as prime minister, we will not be seeing ‘baskets’ in the form of temporary benefits, which will certainly help relieve the citizens but do not lead Greece to the goal we have set,” he explained.
“We want to make the pie bigger…both as regards the GDP of the country as a whole and as regards GDP per capita. In other words, the disposable income of an employee, of a citizen, of a pensioner, which currently has much room to grow. What has happened in Greece in the last five years? The creation of 500,000 jobs. In other words, half a million of our fellow citizens who did not have a job have found a job within 5 years. This is good for three reasons. The first reason is because people who were unemployed are now working. I don’t think that needs much explanation. The second reason, which is important, is because the state gets more money, not by increasing tax rates, but because an additional 500,000 citizens, due to their work, pay taxes. The third reason – and here is the big debate – is because it is an important driver of income growth,” he added.
Marinakis underlined that Greece is gradually becoming a normal European country, while admitting that there is still much to be done.
SOURCE; ANA-MPA
