There is a need to accelerate energy consumption reduction and investments in energy efficiency and interconnection, Cyprus’ Finance Minister, Constantinos Petrides, tweeted, regarding the Eurogroup meeting on Monday.
Petrides noted that the EU economy has faced many crises in the last 2.5 years. Although during the first half of 2022 growth was higher than expected, the latest estimates show a worsening of the situation, both in growth and inflation, he added.
Regarding fiscal policy, the Minister wrote that the national budgets fail to provide an overall protection against the price hike in imported energy and are only able to provide a targeted and temporary protection.
“The policies must also ensure the sustainability of the debt which overall has increased in recent years. Fiscal policy should be supportive of the ECB’s monetary policy and not feed inflation. Some policies in EU had this effect, including increasing energy”, Petrides underlined.
“(There is a) need to accelerate energy consumption reduction and investments in energy efficiency and interconnection. This combination will provide a permanent solution”, he added.
Furthermore, he noted that the right economic policies and quick implementation of reforms through RRF (Recovery and Resilience Facility) will be “a catalyst for the future”.
Petrides concluded by saying that the next period will be crucial for the economies in Europe and that “the situation in the UK is a result of how the markets react”.
Source: Cyprus News Agency