Filenews 9 September 2023
The two main opposition parties, DISY and AKEL, returned yesterday – with much stronger wording than AKEL – and demand immediate solutions from the Government to address the cost, on the occasion of the announcement of the Statistical Service the day before yesterday on the increased inflation of August and the new serious increases in food prices and other essentials. There was no reaction from the Government yesterday and there is no intention on the horizon to announce any new measures in the short term to support society or vulnerable groups of the population.
DISY President Annita Demetriou sent a letter yesterday to the President of the Republic, Nikos Christodoulides, through which she expresses concern about the resurgence of inflation, the risk of new price increases afterwards and the difficulties currently faced by households, small and medium-sized enterprises and the self-employed.
DISY proposes two measures: Reinstatement of the emergency measures for fuel and electricity and intensification of market controls for the price increases observed. Through the second request, apparently the president of DISY is suggesting that there may be an issue of unjustified increases.
AKEL also proposes the reinstatement of support measures for electricity and fuel, but as a second demand it sets the subsidy of the interest rate on housing loans for middle and low income strata.
In the letter to the President, Ms. Demetriou states that "it is with great concern that we have seen the Statistical Office's announcement on inflation in August, which shows a resurgence of price increases. The increase in inflation concerns basic goods and services (food and energy products) and therefore negatively affects all citizens but, above all, households with low and middle incomes.
Ms. Demetriou notes that "we believe that the new increase in inflation in recent times is partly due to the premature and almost complete cessation of the extraordinary support measures for fuel and electricity.
At a time when households, businesses and the self-employed needed it most. The position of the Democratic Rally, which was expressed in a timely and documented manner, was that these two emergency measures should have continued in the July-September quarter. In view of the risk of a new wave of price increases, we believe that your Government should seriously consider the possibility of reintroducing these measures in the last quarter of the year, even if its weight in supporting our fellow citizens will be less. The European Commission's recommendation allows emergency measures for the energy crisis to continue until the end of this year. We also consider it crucial to increase and intensify controls on price increases, especially on products on which VAT has been reduced."
"We can and should"
The president of DISY concludes the letter with the following, apparently in order to pre-empt her reference to the need for budgetary discipline: "We consider, further, that public finances allow the reintroduction of measures for a limited period of time. Besides, at this stage, where the high cost of living is combined with a slowdown in economic growth and high interest rates, support for the middle class and small and medium-sized enterprises will help economic activity in general."
AKEL: Let her... sympathy
AKEL spokesman Giorgos Koukoumas said in a written statement that "the Christodoulides government must leave its declarations of sympathy and understanding behind and provide concrete solutions." He points out that "increases in food and other basic goods reached 10%, but the Government does not seem to be moved. We hope that he will not suggest to citizens to save on food, as we were told - in the heat wave - about air conditioners and electricity. All this comes on top of the increases and accuracy sweeping across society. Electricity, fuel, rents, the successive increases in interest rates that are squeezing the vast majority of society."
Recording its demands for the reinstatement of the reduced consumption tax on fuel and the subsidy on electricity, AKEL also indicates the sources of revenue for their financing: "These, AND must and can be done, utilizing on the one hand a part of the increased revenues of the state, which result from the increases that people are double paying and, on the other hand, revenues from taxing banks' superprofits, something that AKEL has been calling for for a long time and that is already being implemented in other European states.
