ATHENS – The Working Group for Sustainable Financing and the Green Economic Transition has had its first meeting, which was held online with the participation of Finance Minister Christos Staikouras.

The meeting took place on Thursday, with the minister welcoming the members’ immediate response to the call for cooperation and emphasising the importance of the collaboration between the ministry, the regulatory and supervisory authorities, the private and banking sectors and academics in this crucial endeavour.

The meeting also stressed the need to chart the financing and investment needs of the country in order to achieve a green economic transition, taking into account the separate roles that the public and private sectors are called upon to play, in correlation with the European and national targets for the climate.

The Working Group is expected to draw up a series of strategic directions over the next month, whose aim will be the following:

– Highlighting the appropriate sustainable financing instruments and economic policies for the real economy’s green transition, with particular reference to small and medium-sized enterprises.

– Making an effective contribution to fiscal policy and the state’s issuance strategy, in order to further mobilise funds for the green transition while ensuring social cohesion.

– Ensuring that the green economic transition of the country is a lever for growth and openness, as well as a tool for increasing the resilience of the Greek economy.

The group was put together by a decision of the finance minister in March 2022 in comprised of several finance ministry officials, with Michael Arghyrou, Chairman of the ministry’s Council of Economic Experts, serving as its chairman. Other members include the General Director of the Public Debt Management Agency (PDMA) Dimitris Tsakonas, the head of the Economic Policy Unit of the Permanent Greek Representation to the EU, Athina Kalyva, the head of the Bank of Greece Climate Change and Sustainability Centre Theodora Antonakaki, Capital Market Commission President Vasiliki Lazarakou, Hellenic Banking Union Executive Committee Chairman Stavros Ioannou, senior economists in Greek academia and private-sector experts Maria Alexiou (EFRAG, PTFERS) and mechanical engineer Athanasios Kouremenos, an expert in renewable energy issues.