Kyriakos Pierrakakis speaks in Parliament, during the discussion on the 2026 Budget. The Minister of National Economy and Finance refers to a plan that shows the government’s ambition for Greece’s dynamics by the end of the decade, while he has already characterized the Finance Ministry’s bill as “the largest in the History of the opposition.” Kyriakos Pierrakakis, it should be noted, had spoken in Parliament last Friday, December 12, having just arrived from Brussels as winner of the Eurogroup elections, and holding the position of president of the European Stability Mechanism. That was a preliminary discussion, so this is officially his first address to the Plenary.
“The budget we present today defines the future. It is not a restoration budget nor one drafted under the fear of a crisis.” “The question is not whether the country can endure, but what kind of growth it will generate,” emphasized the Minister of National Economy and Finance, continuing: “Allow us to approach 2026 as a starting point. Today Grexit seems to belong to a distant era, not because we forgot but because we changed.”
Kyriakos Pierrakakis: “Greece becomes a country of production and not merely consumption”
The seriousness of any government is judged by how it transforms its choices into growth, said the Minister of National Economy and Finance. The economy transforms individual visions into national visions and these into realities, he emphasized. He then mentioned the growth rates, 2.2% in 2025 and 2.4% in 2026, with Pierrakakis noting that “the Eurozone is moving lower.” “Greece,” he said, “is now a country of production and not consumption.” Additionally, he estimated that exports will reach 4.5% in 2026, while “imports will slow down significantly.”
Regarding agricultural policy, he said that “farmers deserve our respect, even if we don’t agree on all demands. We know that behind every claim there is hard work.” “The numbers show that the direction we are moving in is correct. However, they are not enough. Behind them are people under pressure. We know that income for people doesn’t last until the end of the month. With the 2026 budget we attempted a protection indicator for families, taxpayers and pensioners. The latter benefited from the 250-euro increase in December.” From January 2026, private sector workers will see an increase in their salaries, the Minister of National Economy and Finance added. He also spoke about tax reliefs and the reduction of ENFIA property tax. He highlighted measures for freelancers.
From April 1, 2026, he announced, the minimum wage increases and “due to its increase, all private sector salaries increase. This is an increase of about 46%,” he commented.
“Combined with the return of one month’s rent, these actions come to address the housing problem. Soon you will hear from Kyriakos Mitsotakis a new package of measures. The interventions constitute the biggest boost to individuals in recent decades. We prefer money to go directly to sellers rather than be intermediated,” he said characteristically.
