Georgiadis: 'Household Basket helped to reduce inflation'

The "Household Basket" is a successful measure that, in combination with the 'Market Pass', has helped to lower inflation, Development and Investments Minister Adonis Georgiadis asserted in a press conference held on Wednesday, together with Alternate Minister Nikos Papathanasis and the General Secretary for Consumer Protection Sotiris Anagnostopoulos.

He announced that the Basket's goods will be further expanded by the "Godparent Basket" providing options for more affordable Easter gifts for children, starting on March 29, and the "Easter Basket" that will replace the "Lent Basket" on April 4, that will include foodstuffs normally eaten at Easter, such as lamb, sweetbreads etc.

According to Georgiadis, the specific measure brought about "effective results" while a reduction of VAT, as requested by the opposition parties, "does not bring about a reduction in inflation".

Anagnostopoulos cited figures comparing Greece with Spain, noting that food prices in Spain had increased 4.5 pct in spite of eliminating VAT in January and February 2023, whereas the equivalent increase in Greece was 2.5 pct.

To back up the claims, the ministry's leadership presented an independent study done by the National Kapodistrian University of Athens and Philips University of Cyprus, which analysed the behaviour of prices concerning the Basket products compared with ELSTAT figures for prices generally between January 2022 and January 2023.