Finance Minister Christos Staikouras said on Friday that Greece is planning a fresh 3.2 billion euro ($3.97 billion) package of measures to ease the burden on household budgets and companies caused by rising energy prices.
Since last year, Greece has faced rising gas, electricity, gasoline, and food costs, which have been compounded by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24.
Athens has been subsidizing power and gas prices since September, as well as providing a one-time contribution of 4 billion euros to needy groups.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis stated in a televised speech on Thursday that, among other things, the government will create a wholesale power price cap and reimburse up to 60% of all surcharges paid by electricity users with annual earnings of up to 45,000 euros between December and May.
The conservative government’s assistance program, according to Staikouras, would be largely funded from the state budget.
“The entire cost of the measures is 3.2 billion euros, with the budget bearing 1.1 billion euros of that,” Staikouras stated at a news conference.
