Mitsotakis announces 4 measures against the cost of living: a 15-cent diesel subsidy, debts in 120 instalments and heating oil under 1.75 euros

The Prime Minister of Greece, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, announced on Wednesday four new interventions against the cost of living, in his address to the Council of Ministers, as thebanker.gr reports. “The government’s choice is to support society without undermining the resilience of the economy,” he said, adding: “We do not need another national crisis inside a global crisis.” He explained that the measures will be reviewed every two weeks, depending on how circumstances develop.

On the fuel front, the state subsidy for vehicle diesel rises from 10 to 15 cents per litre at the pump and will apply for the first half of October, according to Money Press reporting. Together with the refineries’ offers, the total relief for consumers will reach 20 cents per litre. For heating oil, the prime minister announced that the price will be kept under 1.75 euros per litre, with the details of the intervention to be announced before October 15.

The package also affects debts: the instalment repayment regime is expanded from 72 to 120 instalments, with a minimum payment of 30 euros. At the same time, the framework for debt management companies (servicers) is tightened, to protect regular debtors from auctions and seizures — if a servicer violates an agreed arrangement, the act is annulled, a fine of up to 500,000 euros is imposed and the citizen is credited with five instalments of the original arrangement.

Mitsotakis also opened the European front. As thebanker.gr notes, he said every broader initiative against the crisis must have a “European stamp” and announced that Greece has submitted a proposal in Brussels for member states to gain extraordinary fiscal flexibility in the face of the current crisis. He also confirmed that he has sent a letter to the president of the European Commission and the president of the Eurogroup, requesting a coordinated European response.