ATHENS – As Greece is still dealing with the wildfires and the aftermath of a blaze that reached Athens, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis reportedly will use the Sept. 7-15 Thessaloniki International Fair to announce aid for families.

There won’t be the usual handouts, said Proto Thema in a report on what he’s said to be considering as the nucleus of his talk, the fair traditionally used as a kind of State of the Country address and to boast about political achievements.

While the economy has rebounded from a 2010-18 economic and austerity crisis, high supermarket prices are still a problem for the ruling New Democracy party, and the government will have to fork over more subsidies for wildfires compensation.

Mitsotakis will be meeting with his ministers to discuss policies and the 2025 budget that will also include pension increases although there’s no plans to lower a Value Added Tax (VAT) on some foods that’s as high as 24 percent.

He also is scheduled to go to Thessaloniki on Aug. 27 to meet with business executives and the National Strategy for Regional Development and the digital platform for Regional Development Plans will be presented at the city’s Concert Hall.

Bonuses of 2,000 euros ($2,207) for families to have children and offset the country’s declining population haven’t worked to a large degree as higher prices and the cost of raising children is deterring many couples.

The report said the government is looking at different incentives for families, with an emphasis on children, such as effectively equating three-child families with large families, tax relief for the second and third child, and substantial increases in child benefits, though many are excluded because of their now rising incomes.

The government is also said to be looking at big reforms in welfare benefits which now provide 200 euros ($200.69) monthly for those out of work or destitute but no details were given about the plan.

The government also is reportedly trying to ensure that unemployment benefits go to those out of work in the long term and not seasonal workers, such as in tourism, who don’t work in the winter but collect benefits.

In January, with Greece’s population continuing to shrink, the government said that bonuses for having children – on a sliding scale – would rise to 2,400 euros ($2,666) for a first child and additional funds for more children.

Minister of National Economy and Finance Kostis Hatzidakis and Minister of Social Cohesion and Family Sofia Zacharaki said it would be retroactive and apply to those who had children in 2023, said the state-run Athens-Macedonia News Agency AMNA.

For a second child it jumped to 2,700 euros ($3,000) and for a third to 3,000 euros ($3,333) and then 3,500 euros ($3,888) for subsequent births.

The minister stated that since the economy is on a good trajectory, the government can support such social measures. He added that this year there are seven new measures for new parents to help them.

They include increases of 1,000 euros ($1,111) of the tax-free threshold, the increase of the maternity allowance from 4 to 9 months, the increase of the heating allowance from 3,000 ($3,333) to 5,000 euros ($5555) for each child, increases in the social allowance, and payroll reforms in the public sector.