They know full well that the cartelization of the Greek real economy is destroying it; they’re poisoning it, yet they ruthlessly continue to do so. They shamelessly continue to make statements about nominal income growth. They are deliberately deceiving the public. They know that this growth is «swallowed up» by the profiteering imposed by the cartels—which has been steadily escalating since July 2021—and by the oppressive tax policy that refuses to index the tax brackets.
«Rising incomes are providing a further boost to growth, which is expected to rise from 2.2% this year to 2.4% in 2026, while inflation and unemployment will continue to decline.» the minister said Kyriakos Pierrakakis during the presentation of the draft budget. It is—or rather, it is not—the most cheerful statement; it is the epitome of black propaganda, which, of course, was instantly picked up by the mainstream media. Every day, they distort the reality experienced by Greek households, affecting at least 70% of them.
To see what truth is being systematically trampled upon, we need only look at the records of the institutional bodies. Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). A tool of Capital. Officials in the Mitsotakis government accuse him of pessimism and use other epithets as well; after all, they’re in the habit of doing this to anyone who highlights the bleak economic reality. As it turns out, the profiteering that is driving up inflation automatically increases indirect taxes, which—along with the failure to index tax brackets—leads to a decrease in the per capita income of Greekhouseholds in the first quarter of 2025. This specific index shows a decrease of approximately 1.9% in the first quarter of this year compared to the last quarter of 2024. What emerges from the data published by the OECD is that the 1.53% decline in real income between the fourth and third quarters of 2024 must be added to this specific drop.
The truth is that the minimum wage for 2025 was raised to 880 euros gross on April 1, 2025. Why was the income In the first quarter? A look at the inflation data raises the question. Because, of course, inflation is eating away at it. Indeed, according to Eurostat, Greece recorded a cumulative annual increase of 3.06% in the first quarter of 2025, with the annual rate standing at 3.1% in January, in February at 3%, and in March at 3.1%. It is, therefore, the inflation of greed that plagues Greece compared to other European countries that respect their citizens and do not deceive them, as politicians like Kyros Pierrakakis, who has adopted word for word the flowery rhetoric of his predecessor, Kostis Hatzidakis.
Greece ranks third worst among 16 European countries, according to the OECD, for which the organization has data on per capita income households. Mr. Pierrakakis is well aware of all this, yet he is bursting with pride over the increase in nominal wages, which merely inflate GDP through tax revenue.
Beyond the tax-driven growth that has sapped purchasing power, the destruction of the country’s productive capacity by natural disasters, combined with industrialists’ refusal to invest in modern means of production, has brought productivity to a standstill. Of course, this decline has also been exacerbated by very low wages and the risks associated with work, with workplace accidents now numbering in the hundreds. The result is massive job vacancies, a fact that leads to a further collapse in labor productivity.
And here comes Yannis Stournaras, the highly paid governor of the Bank of Greece, sticking his nose into things. He recently lent a helping hand with his statements to Kyriakos Mitsotakis. «If we raise salaries by 30%, we'll go bankrupt.» since it does not correspond to productivity. No matter how hard we look, we will not find a similar statement by G. Stournaras that expresses concern about the rise of at least 30% in food prices, which has driven the majority of Greek households into bankruptcy.
We have long known that G. Stournaras has a selective sensibility. We also know that there must indeed be an increase in labor productivity, which, of course, must be based on increased investment in modern production machinery and not on the increase in unpaid working hours that the Mitsotakis government is attempting to impose with the 13-hour workday.
Because of Mitsotakis’s policies regarding inflation and excessive taxation, if Greece does not «claim» the title of the EU-27 country with the lowest purchasing power in 2025, it will do so in 2026.
