ATHENS – “The message sent by our overall economic policy is a message of confidence and realism but also a message of cautious optimism,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said at the start of the Cabinet meeting, which he chaired on Friday.

He underlined that the new state budget addresses the three major national issues of the current conjuncture, serving stability, consistency and continuity, “and above all our commitment to the Greek people to fight hard to build a modern state that moves forward and aims high. We are implementing this commitment and we continue to fight for it”.

Mitsotakis also said that “all the figures show that the national economy is resilient,” and analysed data confirming this. “All those things we are citing today are reasons to work hard and not to brag,” he added.

The Prime Minister also referred to the 2nd installment of the Recovery Fund, noting that the decision for its disbursement was expected soon, possibly even on Friday, and that it will be “a move that puts a European stamp [of approval] regarding the correct management of European funds by the government but also replies to the irresponsible things recently said about a possible renegotiation of the Recovery Fund”.

“This capital,” the premier said “will invigorate the real economy in its entirety and support the whole of society. It creates hope for the many and maybe some concern for the few”.

He also spoke of the “household basket”: “We are a government that stands with the country and the many. I know that this initiative, without being a cure-all, in combination with the other support measures, has helped relieve the most vulnerable”.

Concluding, he referred to the bill on cheap housing for young people that was tabled in parliament three months after it was announced at the Thessaloniki International Fair.