Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis called on members of his government and members of his majority to pay half their salaries to fight the coronavirus. What Katerina Sakellaropoulou, the new President of the Hellenic Republic, immediately promised to do.
The one who took office on March 13 has decided to give 50% of her salary for the next two months, according to a press release published on Monday.
A call to the other parties
“We are all equal in the face of the health threat. But to fight it, everyone must participate according to their own strength, ”said Kyriakos Mitsotakis on the same day. He called on "the political world of the country to position itself at the forefront of solidarity" by urging the members of his government and of his right-wing New Democratic parliamentary majority to pay half their salaries into a special fund intended to fight the pandemic.
He said he was "sure the other parties" on the political spectrum would follow. The left-wing opposition party Syriza considered that this contribution should be "compulsory and not optional because employees who lose half their wages (...) had no choice". The party of former Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras ruled that this contribution should be extended to MEPs, government and legal positions in the public sector.
An economy still recovering
Greece, which decided from its first death to take drastic measures against the coronavirus, regrets to date 43 deaths and 1,212 cases of Covid-19. A series of measures to support the healthcare system, companies, private sector employees and independent professionals, hit by general confinement, were taken at a total budgetary cost of 6.8 billion euros, or 3 .5% of GDP.
Minister Christos Staïkouras predicts "significant short-term damage" to the Greek economy, which is still recovering after the unprecedented debt crisis between 2010 and 2018. According to government forecasts, Greece is likely to return to recession in 2020.
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- Coronavirus
- Covid 19
- Greece
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