Fiscal council

The European Union's new fiscal rules should ensure both fiscal discipline and economic growth, while considering countries with high defense spending, noted Greek National Economy and Finance Minister Kostis Hatzidakis on Thursday.

The Hellenic Fiscal Council is predicting a slightly higher growth rate than the Stability Program, 2.6% against 2.3% for 2023, while for 2024 it is more pessimistic, expecting GDP to increase by 2.8% against the government forecast for 3%.

The financial crisis and the pandemic have led to an increase in the public debt from about 15% of GDP in 2008 up to over 47% of GDP at the end of 2020, with a fiscal consolidation with an average annual deficit correction rate of approx. 1.5% of GDP to stabilize the debt at just over 50% of GDP by 2024, says the president of the Fiscal Council, Daniel Daianu.

Ljubljana – The Fiscal Council has noted that at least one of the two conditions enabling the government to depart from the obligation of medium-term fiscal balance under exceptional circumstances will be met next year. It has thus advised caution and again called on the government to clearly define mitigation measures and quantify their fiscal effect.

Ljubljana – The Fiscal Council has warned that the latest legislative stimulus package contains certain provisions that may worsen the structure of public finances, including the proposal for simplified retirement and one-off aid to population groups not directly affected by the coronavirus epidemic.

Ljubljana- In the second wave of epidemic, the government seems to be taking rapid measures under pressure to be able to boast, believes Davorin Kračun, the head of the Fiscal Council. “It could easily happen that many measures will prove counterproductive,” he said in an interview the newspaper Večer runs on Saturday.