The government aims to reduce public debt to 94% of GDP by the end of 2022, Finance Minister Constantinos Petrides said on Thursday, noting however that he does not know to which extent this will be affected by the economic crisis and as a result of the war in Ukraine.
Petrides, was speaking after a meeting of the parliamentary committee on public expenditure control which discussed the General Auditor’s report on the Public Debt Management Office, in the presence of General Auditor Odysseas Michaelides.
In his statements, Petrides said that he was satisfied with the report’s findings, which “praises the way of operation and management of public debt by the Public Debt Management Office of the Finance Ministry.”
He added that a number of recommendations are included in the report which he would study.
Asked about inflation, he replied that inflation will depend on the intensity and longevity of the war.
“Right now, there is great uncertainty, but personally, I do not expect that it is a matter (inflation) which will end soon,” he noted. Replying to an additional question on the matter, he said the government has taken a series of targeted steps in order to shield specific sectors and vulnerable groups of the population.
Replying to a question on public debt Petrides said that in 2019 it had dropped to 91% of GDP, but added that in 2020 because the government took out emergency loans from the markets to support society during the crisis caused by the pandemic with nearly 3 trillion euros, the debt had reached 115.4% of GDP.
“Now it is down to 103.9% of GDP and this has been much appreciated by ratings agencies,” he added.
Our aim, he noted, “is for it to drop to 94% by the end of 2022,” adding that “off course I do not know how much this will be reversed due to the economic crisis and as a result of the war.”
It is however, he pointed out, “at satisfactory levels” in relation to what it could be due to the crisis, if we compare it with other EU countries.
“According to our programme the debt will be at 75% by the end of 2025,” he said, adding however that the conditions of uncertainty which are prevalent internationally do not allow for certainty when making predictions.
Source: Anadolu Agency