Greece Unveils €500 Million Relief Package Targeting Debt, Families and Farmers

The Greek government has announced a €500 million economic relief package targeting private debtors, families with children, pensioners, and farmers, as Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis seeks to ease cost-of-living pressures while maintaining the fiscal discipline that has defined his administration.

Finance Minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis, alongside ministers Thanos Petralias and Giorgos Kotsiras, detailed a package built around three broad pillars: debt

On debt, the government outlined three new mechanisms. Debtors can unfreeze bank accounts by paying 25 percent of their principal.

The threshold for accessing the out-of-court settlement mechanism — which offers debt write-offs at a 3 percent interest rate — has been lowered from €10,000 to €5,000, bringing an additional 300,000 citizens into the program.

A separate 72-installment repayment plan for debts incurred before November 2023 will launch in June.

Family support absorbs nearly half the package. Around 80 percent of families with children will receive automatic payments of €150 per child by late June, without needing to apply.

A married couple with three children earning under €50,000 annually will receive €450.

In agriculture, fertilizer subsidies will be extended through August and agricultural diesel subsidies through May — a direct response to pressure from farmers already strained by the foot-and-mouth disease crisis on Lesvos and rising input costs linked to Middle East instability.

Some 1.9 million low-income pensioners, uninsured elderly and disabled citizens will receive a permanently increased annual allowance of €300 in November.

Mr. Petralias said expanded eligibility criteria add 420,000 new beneficiaries to the program, while income thresholds for state rent rebates are also being raised.

The package arrives as Greece posts strong growth figures and a primary surplus, giving the government fiscal room to act without breaching EU budget rules.

Διαβάστε περισσότερα στο iefimerida.gr

The Greek government has announced a €500 million economic relief package targeting private debtors, families with children, pensioners, and farmers, as Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis seeks to ease cost-of-living pressures while maintaining the fiscal discipline that has defined his administration.

Finance Minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis, alongside ministers Thanos Petralias and Giorgos Kotsiras, detailed a package built around three broad pillars: debt relief, direct family payments and support for agriculture.

On debt, the government outlined three new mechanisms. Debtors can unfreeze bank accounts by paying 25 percent of their principal.

The threshold for accessing the out-of-court settlement mechanism — which offers debt write-offs at a 3 percent interest rate — has been lowered from €10,000 to €5,000, bringing an additional 300,000 citizens into the program.

A separate 72-installment repayment plan for debts incurred before November 2023 will launch in June.

Family support absorbs nearly half the package. Around 80 percent of families with children will receive automatic payments of €150 per child by late June, without needing to apply.

A married couple with three children earning under €50,000 annually will receive €450.

In agriculture, fertilizer subsidies will be extended through August and agricultural diesel subsidies through May — a direct response to pressure from farmers already strained by the foot-and-mouth disease crisis on Lesvos and rising input costs linked to Middle East instability.

Some 1.9 million low-income pensioners, uninsured elderly and disabled citizens will receive a permanently increased annual allowance of €300 in November.

Mr. Petralias said expanded eligibility criteria add 420,000 new beneficiaries to the program, while income thresholds for state rent rebates are also being raised.

The package arrives as Greece posts strong growth figures and a primary surplus, giving the government fiscal room to act without breaching EU budget rules.

Διαβάστε περισσότερα στο iefimerida.gr