ATHENS — "The energy crisis is expected to last until the second quarter of 2022," Finance Minister Christos Staikouras said on Saturday in an interview with Skai TV adding that this phenomenon seems to be temporary but sharper than the initial estimates, while "the root of the problem is exogenous, pan-European."

Staikouras reassured that "we have the resources at any time to support households and businesses. We are ready to contribute to limiting the consequences of any crisis, in this case the energy crisis."

The minister pointed out that "all the policies that we announced at the Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF) for 2022 apply, but for other political initiatives that we would like to take, the fiscal margins are limited". He explained that "as long as we are forced to help society, these 500 million euros – which were announced yesterday that they will be given – we are deprived of something else."

He also mentioned that the problem is not cash but fiscal, because of the primary deficit and the debt. "We never want to go back to a time of austerity. The deficit this year is 7.4 pct," he noted, adding that the country currently has 40 billion euros in cash reserves.