Socialist opposition leader Nikos Androulakis on Friday accused Greece’s conservative government of presenting a “fantasy picture” of living conditions as households struggle with persistent high prices, escalating a political clash over the cost-of-living crisis.
The PASOK leader said Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis was downplaying the pressure on families and allowing monopolistic practices to go unchecked.
“Citizens are paying an exorbitant price for the unchecked power of monopolies you have left untouched,” Androulakis said in a parliamentary question to the prime minister. He accused the government of treating rising prices as a sign of economic success. “The overwhelming majority of citizens are losing out. Oligopolies are reaping huge profits while New Democracy looks the other way,” he said, adding that inequalities were widening and that Greece was performing worse than its eurozone peers.
Mitsotakis acknowledged that inflation remains a major challenge for households but said the situation was “not as dramatic” as portrayed by the opposition. He argued that price pressures were largely a European problem and that Greece had fared better than many EU states in containing energy and food inflation, though it had struggled more with housing costs.
His comments prompted an immediate rebuttal from Androulakis, who accused the prime minister of cherry-picking data and comparing Greece with non-eurozone states.
Mitsotakis countered that Androulakis was “calling meat fish” and failing to explain how he would fund the measures he proposes, noting that Greece’s economy is still recovering from a decade-long debt crisis.
He said government wage increases and tax reforms were the appropriate response to inflation, and defended the need for high primary surpluses due to the country’s elevated public debt. He again ruled out cutting value-added tax (VAT), saying the state “cannot afford it.”
On rising rents, Mitsotakis said they were “the other side of an economy that is doing well,” adding: “What is good for a property owner is bad for a tenant.” He left open the possibility of further reducing taxes on rental income if landlords show greater compliance in declaring earnings.