Greece is experiencing the most “silent” pre-election period of all time

The Greek society is now very concerned that the parties during the pre-election period hide the truth about what will happen after the elections, as it gradually becomes clear that and ND and SYRIZA and PASOK have a “heavy” tax program that they avoid revealing to the Greek people.

It’s easy to say we’re in the most “silent” election period of all time, as essentially all parties are making no mention of the real problems the country will face in the coming months, the editor said. Pronews Theophrastos Andreopoulos.

new democracy, perhaps much more cautious in her public statements, but at the top of the agenda of the government and the changes expected to be launched after the elections is tax increases for freelancers and the self-employed.

Under pressure from the European Commission, as well as data ΑΑΔΕaccording to which 55% of freelancers declare beggarly incomes of up to 5,000 euros, and 73% – up to 10,000 euros, changes are inevitable.

Already now, since November 2022, the Ministry of Finance has instructed IOBE conduct a study on changes in the taxation of freelancers and self-employed, which, however, is kept in the strictest confidence, due to the fact that we are in the pre-election period and the case of G. Katrougalos’ statements and how much it cost SYRIZA is still fresh.

It should be noted that about 52% of freelancers massively voted for ND in the May 21 elections.

Therefore, New Democracy is thinking about taking measures such as:

• Limitation of the possibility of deducting expenses from gross income.
• Change in unique net income ratios.
• Restoring the presumption that existed in the 1990s in a more modern form so that freelancers are taxed on a minimum amount of net income.
• Maintaining and strengthening the presumption of a living wage for the self-employed and self-employed.
• Strengthening tax audits, especially on bank accounts of freelancers and the self-employed.
• Recent statements by George Katrugalos and Theano Fotiou of SYRIZA and Elena Chronopoulou of PASOK (which was later refuted and re-interpreted as Sardam(mistake)), which jeopardized the middle class, give rise to suspicions and wariness that neither in the first nor in the second elections, the parties tell the Greek society the truth about what awaits it in the coming years.

And indeed, as if that weren’t enough, another PASOK member, Panagiotis Dudonis, showed up shortly thereafter and declared that corporate dividends would be taxed at 15% on €100,000 and up!

In other words, the PASOK economic program includes a tax (and a big one at that) on all profitable medium businesses!

PASOK’s political planning secretary and State MP, Panagiotis Dudonis, is not just an executive director, but one of PASOK’s top leaders.

Dudonis had to give specific answers about PASOK’s dividend tax program. He stressed to SKAI after pressure that they would be taxed at 15% on amounts of $100,000 and up.

In fact, former Deputy Finance Minister Theodoros Skilakakis intervened at this point, emphasizing that “all medium-sized companies in the country that make a profit fall into this category.”

The rampant tax chatter that first hooked SYRIZA to Katrugalos-Fotios and then PASOK to Chronopoulou-Dudoni raises legitimate questions.

One politician backpedaled, saying that he was sardonic, another said that these were his personal views, but the essence is the same: the European Commission asked to raise money for the coming years. And usually this money is collected from ordinary “victims”which are always the inhabitants of the country.

Whether it’s the middle class or the “non-existent” class, they always pay the price. One thing is certain: the elite won’t pay.

The first election is over, the second election is approaching with an impending victory and possibly a New Democracy self-sustainability, barring a very shocking accident, but there is something that neither New Democracy nor the other parties allowed to reveal during the election period.

The benchmark is to ensure that debt declines or remains at a reasonable level in the coming years, and the budget deficit in the medium term should be below the benchmark of 3% of GDP!

Please note that the European Commission has already issued reports on the sustainability of the Greek debt, as well as a surplus of 2.3% of GDP, but apparently, Greek politicians have received more real information …

“Terrible” secrets of the Greek economy

It is worth the fate that Greece GDP in 2022 in kind reached €192.1 billionand the total external debt according to the Bank of Greecemade up €487,635.8 million in December 2019 and €546,717.91 million in December 2022, an increase of almost 60 billion.

Thus, the ratio of external debt to GDP in Greece was 260% in 2019 and 276% in 2020. This is one of the highest rates among countries in the world.

At the same time, there is a clear upward trend in this debt. Although such data is not published anywhere, it is possible to calculate the approximate external debt of Greece on June 1, 2023 in euros using the formula:

Option 1

Greece’s 2023 external debt in euros = Greece’s 2022 external debt in euros * (1 + growth rate of external debt) / euro to dollar exchange rate.

Substituting the values, we get:

External debt of Greece in 2023 in euros = 546,717.91 * (1 – 0.0206) / 0.931927 = €563,467.02 million.

Option 2

Let’s assume that the growth rate of Greece’s external debt in 2023 will be equal to the average growth rate over the past five years. According to the Bank of Greece, the average external debt growth rate for the period from 2018 to 2022 was -1.5%.

Let’s also assume that the euro/dollar exchange rate in 2023 will be equal to the average exchange rate over the past five years. According to Xe Currency Converter, the average euro/dollar exchange rate for the period from 2018 to 2022 was 0.8779.

Using these assumptions, I can calculate the approximate external debt of Greece in 2023 in euros using the formula:

Greece’s 2023 external debt in euros = Greece’s 2022 external debt in euros * (1 + growth rate of external debt) / euro to dollar exchange rate.

Substituting the values, we get:

External debt of Greece in 2023 in euros = 546,717.91 * (1 – 0.015) / 0.8779 = €593,849.96 million

This is a rough answer based on some assumptions. It may differ from the real value depending on the actual growth rate of external debt and the euro/dollar exchange rate in 2023.

Naturally, the European Commission, knowing about a similar situation with the debt of Greece and learning about the election promises of the Greek parties, decided that politicians should be slightly pulled up. After all, if promises are made publicly, someone will have to answer for them. And mindful of the situation in 2015, when Greece was already in a situation that was referred to only as “Grexit”, brought this information to the Greek politicians.

The result was statements in which parties dramatically changed their approach to fiscal policy.

In vain suffered or prudently left?

A few days before the election Giorgos Katrougalosdeputy from SYRIZA, high-ranking party functionary and former Minister of Labor and Social Policy in the government of A. Tsipras (2015-2019), announced his refusal to participate in the upcoming elections on May 21.

Katrugalos, 60, who is also a lawyer and professor of public law, announced his withdrawal from the party after declaredthat social contributions for the self-employed could rise to 20% in a future SYRIZA government.

His statements provoked a sharp reaction not only from the New Democracy, but also from his own party, which categorically denied such plans, stating that this was the personal opinion of Katrugalos. It is clear that the party put pressure on him to withdraw from the race, as SYRIZA would not want to spoil relations with potential voters.

The Greek media wrote that this statement had a strong impact on the election results, turning entrepreneurs away from SYRIZA.

After a few days of elections, similar statements voiced by representatives of all 3 leading parties… This means that the parties knew about the goals of the European Commission before the elections, but concealed the information. And only the chatty or overly honest Katrugalos gave this information to the public…

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