PM Mitsotakis: ‘Our thoughts are on Volos and North Evia’

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, in his address to New Democracy’s Parliamentary Group on Thursday, spoke of a “new starting point of activation and work,” and also referred to the disasters from climate change. “Our thoughts today are on Volos and North Evia. The state is there, alongside the residents, and we will once again stand by those affected,” he stressed.

Mitsotakis underlined that the government is proceeding to implement the programme of its second term. He noted that, within the first three months since the elections, the government’s pledges are already becoming a reality as seven bills were passed, including one allowing Greeks who are registered in the electoral rolls and live abroad to vote from their place of residence. In addition, he referred to the bill of the Ministry of Labour that was recently passed.

“All this means permanent and stable increases in income. Pride and arrogance remain our enemies….In the first bill of the finance ministry, we implemented half of our election campaign pledges. We are always ready to deal with any emergency problems,” he underlined.

“You are aware of our new initiatives on the front of the imported price increases, especially in food prices,” Mitsotakis said. The prime minister explained that this was another batch of measures to contain inflation, following the other support measures such as the ‘household basket.’

“These are all moves that constitute a safety net adapted to the current threat of soaring prices. When prices recede, increases in income will remain. High prices are one aspect of reality. The other aspect is growing GDP, investments, the increase in wages in the private sector,” he saide, adding that the goal of reaching an average wage of 1,500 euros in the private sector is achievable.

“Think about where we would be today if we had to manage natural disasters with the economic capability of 2019,” he said, while talking about the projects that will be carried out in Evros using resources from the Recovery Fund and pointing out that “this government negotiated the recovery fund.”

“The second and more difficult front is that of multivalent modernisation,” noted the prime minister, while he also referred to efforts to prevent concealment of income. “There can be no healthy and productive economy when there are phenomena of tax evasion,” he pointed out, among others.

Mitsotakis said that these were problems that had persisted for decades and that the time had come to confront them, noting that this would be a “hard and arduous struggle”.