ATHENS (Reuters) – Greece’s Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis promised pension increases for the first time in more than a decade next year, saying Greece had definitively turned a page from the financial chaos which required three international bailouts.
During its decade-long financial crisis that broke out in 2009, Greece was forced by its international lenders to slash pensions more than 10 times to reduce state spending and meet its fiscal targets.
“Everyone must benefit from growth without threatening the fiscal balance or the country’s economic competitiveness,” Mitsotakis, whose term ends next year, told parliament.
The conservative premier has been under pressure by the main leftist opposition to call an early election due to his government’s handling of the COVID pandemic, inflation and soaring electricity prices which have hit households.
Greece’s economy is seen expanding by 3.2% this year, according to the central bank which lowered a previous forecast to reflect increased uncertainty due to the war in Ukraine and inflation.
“Three years are enough,” leader of the leftist Syriza party Alexis Tsipras told parliament. “You need to declare today … that the country will head to elections in September”.
Mitsotakis, who has ruled out a snap poll, is leading in opinion polls. On Wednesday, he reflected on 2015, the peak of the financial crisis, when Greeks were queuing outside banks due to capital controls, noting the country’s progress since then.
“Fortunately all this belongs to the past. Today Greece is a different Greece,” he said.
(Reporting by Renee Maltezou; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
