ATHENS – Continued high prices in Greece, especially for food, have been a bugaboo for Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, could be countered by raising salaries, he said, but there’s no plans to do so in the public sector.

He said that competition and state controls are trying to help families and households deal with the prices that are only now beginning to recede a little after staples like olive oil and milk spiraled upward.

He said, “We are resisting and believe that things will gradually get better. If we remove the disproportionately large effect of olive oil on the food price index in our country, the food price index is now moving downwards.”

He said he will offer some ideas about higher wages when he speaks at the Thessaloniki International Fair that’s traditionally a spot for rulers to cite their achievements and deliver policy messages.