ATHENS – After saying there wasn’t enough money in state coffers – despite predicting 2.8 percent growth during the COVID-19 pandemic – to reduce a 24 percent tax on food, Greece’s Finance Ministry said it would abolish a 10 percent luxury tax on raw materials for the fur and silversmith industry.

That was hailed by Hellenic Confederation of Commerce and Entrepreneurship (ESEE) President Giorgos Karanikas who said that ending the tax was “an essential step for the survival of these industries,” providing goods, especially for the wealthy.

The move will still require a vote in Parliament but the New Democracy government has an 8-vote majority there and party lawmakers are told by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis how to vote or could face being ejected.

Karanikas said the sectors had undergone several economic crises  – as have Greek citizens hammered by harsh austerity measures – and that the decision will “help these two important sectors of the economy to continue their efforts to regain their competitiveness and growth prospects.”