ATHENS – Finance Minister Christos Staikouras, speaking to SKAI TV on Tuesday, clarified that there was no “fuel pass 3 issue” and that the measures that will be applied are those announced in Thessaloniki “and no other measures”.

Asked about support for diesel, he said that the measures announced by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in Thessaloniki apply: “I do not claim that there will be no other actions in the future but we can’t talk about new measures every week. We have given more than any other country. We have a primary deficit and the opposition is effectively telling us to increase the deficit. We estimate that we will run a 1.7 pct deficit (of GDP).”

Asked why he is strongly against a reduction of the special consumption tax for fuel, he said that measures can’t be horizontal and that the fiscal cost must be taken into account, adding that this was “something we can’t afford”.

“The excess revenues of the energy companies are collected. Publicly, I have not ruled out anything but it is difficult to make plans with such high volatility. You have to be close to society but also have some margins. The main target is to meet what the state budget says. To return to low primary surpluses and for the present there can’t be any measures for diesel,” he said.