ATHENS – Showing the 2023 election campaign is already underway, the rising PASOK-KINAL center-left Greek party ripped the state budget plan presented by the ruling New Democracy.

The spending blueprint and report on the state of the economy by the Parliamentary Budget Office “is a warning call for the Greek economy,” PASOK said, despite the financial magazine The Economist naming Greece an economic winner in 2022 compared to other countries.

In a statement titled “the government’s presentation of the economy vs reality,” PASOK’s economics division said that the report named four key sources of uncertainty  it said the Conservatives ignored, said the state-run Athens-Macedonia News Agency ANA-MPA.

PASOK said there was a drop in the growth rate because of the impact of inflation negating what’s expected to be 6 percent expansion in 2022 and said not taken into account was the higher interest rate on public and private debt.

It also pointed to current account deficits and the effect of a spyware and phone tapping scandal although the public seems uninterested as it affects journalists and politicians mostly.

PASOK accused New Democracy of  “cheap PR celebrations and electoral campaign fiestas orchestrated to cover up the failure of its policies,” the center-left saying it has a plan that will “reduce inequalities and (build) a strong social state,” without giving specifics.