HELLENIC MINISTRY OF FINANCE

The budget recorded a primary deficit of 1.650 billion euros in the three-month period, up from a budget target for a deficit of 1.331 billion euros but down from a shortfall of 3.413 billion in 2021.

According to the figures, tourism gave a strong push to the Greek economy, after the deep 10% recession seen in the third quarter of 2020, as on an annual basis service exports jumped by 84.6%.

There are total guarantees of 23 billion euros and a possible integration into the debt would lead to a large increase in it, which at the end of June amounted to 387 billion euros.

According to the draft budget report, a key factor in boosting economic activity in 2022 will be the Greek Recovery plan, with spending from the fund forecast to exceed 5 billion euros per year by the end of the implementation period.

As Staikouras pointed out, the recovering economy, with a higher growth estimate of 5.9% this year, which, in fact, he claimed may prove to be conservative, offer the possibility for a series of measures that will help households and measures.

The purpose of the working group is to closely monitor financing, to analyze the needs of companies, record the lending criteria of banks as well as the financing programs, formulate proposals and better coordinate the parties involved.

The basic plan of the government foresees that a program similar to the "Bridge" program will be created for small businesses and professionals.

Although the Finance Ministry believes that GDP data in the first quarter (-1.6% and -0.9% on an annual basis) was not "catastrophic, nor extreme", concerns remain about the economy's productive base and consumption.s pointed out by officials, the keys to development are tourism, construction, investment, and the scope for the government to intervene in order to stem the crisis.

According to sources, the first step will be to reduce special allowances paid to employees, the self-employed, and small businesses that will enter the production process while simultaneously removing the state subsidy for all pension fund contributions. This way, the fiscal cost will be limited and the derailment of the budget will be controlled, reducing the drain on state cash reserves. Another factor pushing the Finance Ministry to change policy is the fact that resources available are not enough to finance such a high bill.

Greece raised 1.5 billion euros from the reopening of a 10-year bond issue, with the yield of the bond set at an historic low of 1.5 pct. What is more important is the increased participation of institutional investors in the bookbuilding process that markedly limited the participation of hedge funds.