ATHENS – Main opposition SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance spokesperson Nassos Iliopoulos on Wednesday accused Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis of “playing hide-and-seek with profiteering”, in statements on SKAI television.

Citing figures from the GSEVEE Institute of Small Businesses, he commented that “2.5 years of Kyriakos Mitsotakis means that for 50 pct of household, their income runs out by the 20th of the month.”

He noted that the government had cut 3.0 billion euros from pensioners by “abolishing the 13th pension that had returned in 2019 with a SYRIZA government,” and that the minimum wage remained frozen, so that “Greece is the only country in the eurozone that has a lower minimum wage than in 2010,” stressing that this must be increased to 800 euros.

Iliopoulos also cited figures showing that those on minimum wage had lost 14 pct of their purchasing power due to inflation, adding that economic difficulties now affected the greater part of society. “For all these reasons, today’s strike is very important,” he added.

The spokesperson accused the prime minister of “opting to be with profiteering” at the last EU summit and refusing to lower the special consumption tax for fuel or to take steps to tax the “windfall” profits of energy companies, as these were named by the European Commission.