"Our intention is to continue implementing bold structural measures," Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said during his visit to the development ministry in Athens on Wednesday. "The interventions we have made in the market and will continue for at least another six months are interventions which, I want to note, have started to bring the first results. In the month of May we had the seventh lowest inflation rate in Europe and we are starting to see signs of prices falling," the prime minister said.
"The aim is not only to talk about reducing inflation but to reduce prices now, on the shelf, for the benefit of consumers, especially in supermarkets and especially for food. We believe that the continuation of this policy could soon lead us to even more substantial, measurable results," Mitsotakis added. During his visit, the prime minister had a meeting with the new ministry leadership to discuss the government's priorities, focusing particularly on measures to reduce inflationary pressures and to lower prices.
"We will need to unite our forces and say that the continued high prices essentially undermine social cohesion itself, and that the state, through its control mechanisms, wants to ensure a market that operates competitively and to eliminate oligopolistic phenomena or instances of profiteering - but in this we also need healthy entrepreneurship on our side. Whether we are talking about the big Greek producers or whether we are talking about the supermarket companies, the Greek traders, everyone must realise that this is a wager that we must and will all win together," he said.
Mitsotakis reiterated that the issue of high prices also has a European dimension and referred to his request to the president of the European Commission for action regarding the practices used by multinationals, noting that he will insist on this issue. "I believe that it is an issue that should concern the strategic agenda of the EU for the next five years. The single market is not just about businesses. It concerns consumers and such phenomena must be effectively dealt with, not only at the national but also at the European level," he pointed out. As he underlined, he is willing to carry out this mission, in alliance with other European countries that also have smaller markets, which also have to contend with such practices, as a rule.
Extension of the measures against the hike in prices
The measures against high prices are to be extended until December, as the data indicates a reduction in inflation, Mitsotakis announced during his visit to the ministry.
In the meantime, according to Athens-Macedonian News Agency sources, the focus of the prime minister's meeting with Development Minister Takis Theodorikakos was the key role of the ministry in development, in increasing the income of the citizens, as well as in shaping the new production model of country.
The need to mobilise healthy entrepreneurship for the de-escalation of inflation was also pointed out, while the Interagency Market Control Unit (DIMEA) will be immediately strengthened, with an additional 30 members of staff, and cooperation between all the state's control mechanisms will be exploited to the fullest extent.
Mitsotakis also emphasised the ministry's role in shaping Greek industry and manufacturing, as well as its role in research and innovation efforts and in exploiting European funds for growth. He further emphasised its important contribution to the government's efforts regarding the labour market, in covering the needs of the market for labour and reducing unemployment.
"I will say it again: healthy enterpreneurship is a supporter in this effort but everyone must understand that the collective prosperity and wealth that is created must be shared fairly, whether this concerns capital and the workers or whether it concerns consumers, who cannot be the victims of business practices that have no place in a truly free and competitive economy," Mitsotakis said.
According to Theodorikakos, the ministry currently has "two crucial missions": ensuring a properly functioning market with competition between businesses, with the aim of lowering prices and boosting measures to tackle profiteering and other problems and, secondly, contributing to the growth of the Greek economy and increasing the production of wealth - including the available income of the citizens - through a new production model.
Those present at the meeting included Development Minister Takis Theodorikakos, Minister of State Akis Skertsos, Deputy Development Ministers Zoi Rapti and Anna Mani-Papadimitriou, Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister Thanassis Kontogeorgis and the head of the prime minister's Economic Bureau, Alexis Patelis.
AMNA
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