Greece's Ministry of National Economy and Finance sets out EUR 800m targeted support and a 72-instalment debt settlement with wider access to the out-of-court mechanism

In a televised interview, Greece's Ministry of National Economy and Finance outlined the government’s targeted support measures totalling EUR 800m and highlighted a new package for private debt relief. The minister presented the measures as aimed primarily at renters, pensioners and families with children, alongside a debt arrangement designed to help non-strategic defaulters. On private debt, the package introduces a 72-instalment repayment option and lowers the entry threshold to the out-of-court debt settlement mechanism to EUR 5,000 from EUR 10,000. The minister linked the temporary measures to the European Commission’s “temporary, targeted, tailored” approach and said part of the support addresses energy-price pressures, including diesel subsidies; he also described the EUR 800m envelope as comprising EUR 500m plus EUR 300m announced a few weeks earlier. He stated that only 10% of the additional surplus underpinning the measures comes from taxes, with the remainder attributed to restrained spending, economic growth and falling unemployment, and said the budget remains within target while the growth forecast for the year has been revised to 2.0% from 2.4%. Looking ahead, he said the government has kept fiscal space of around EUR 200m for potential further measures if the energy crisis persists and as it monitors the fallout from the Middle East crisis.