WASHINGTON, DC – Inflation has slammed households and is threatening the production of economies, Greek Finance Minister Christos Staikouras said on Wednesday, at a meting on the sidelines of the 2022 annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group (WBG) in Washington, DC on Wednesday.

Staikouras was addressing a closed-door meeting with IFM Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva and other European officials, and said that sustaining social cohesion was a key condition to resolving the energy crisis successfuly.

The Greek minister outlined six policy priorities that must be implemented:

– Coordination of national policies toward a price cap in the natural gas wholesale market

– Using excessive profits of energy companies to support society, as Greece is doing to subsidize household and business energy bills

– Financial incentives and a media campaign to voluntarily reduce energy demand and to increase efficiency in its consumption

– Guaranteeing that support measures will remain temporary, targeted, and adequately adapted to national economies’ needs

– Boosting collaboration with social partners so that inflation on salaries and prices does not affect job occupation rates, and

– Further promoting reforms and investments that contribute to the green transition and boost investments, jobs, and productivity.

Staikouras also participated in the 8th meeting of the Finance Minister Coalition for Climate Action, on the sidelines of the IMF/World Bank meetings, where he underlined the need to accelerate green transition in view of the unprecedented mix of challenges countries face, and witih the view of promoting long-term viable development and resilience. Greece, he said, is responding to these new challenges and constantly aligns its policies mix with its climate goals, serving green transition and strengthening its energy security.