ATHENS – Inflows into the Greek economy from the Recovery and Resilience Facility have exceeded 11 billion euros at a very difficult time, Alternate Finance Minister Theodoros Skylakakis said in a statement to the Athens-Macedonian News Agency reported on Sunday.

“We are among the first five countries to submit a request for the disbursement of the second payment from the RFF (for 3.65 billion euros on September 30) and the first country to submit a request for the third payment (loans section). So far, 372 projects with a total budget of 13.5 billion euros have been included in the subsidies’ programme. In the loans programme, 160 investment plans with a total budget exceeding seven billion euros have been submitted. A sum – without precedent for the Greek state – which will be increased even further with the active participation in “Greece 2.0″ of mostly small and medium-sized businesses. It is notable that, already, of the investment plans submitted in the loans section, 40 pct of the applications are from small and medium-sized enterprises,” he said.

Referring to his recent visit to Crete, Skylakakis stressed that the energy transition, the digitisation of the state, reduction of bureaucracy and modernisation of social infrastructure were the essence of the government’s reform policy.

The minister noted that contracts have been drawn up for 23 investment plans with a combined budget of 1.4 billion euros, at an average interest rate of 0.9 pct and a 10-year repayment period. He noted that the “Greece 2.0” plan concerns everyone and has funded essential activities such as opening fire breaks and access roads in forests, improving energy efficiency in old buildings or providing technology for school students.