The Deputy Minister of National Economy and Finance, Mr. Thanos Petralias, at the 48th annual meeting of senior budget officials of the OECD, held on May 27, 2026, in Paris, on the topic of “Rationalizing Public Finances,” according to a related announcement.
The meeting was also attended by the President of the Court of Auditors, Ms. Sotiria Douni, the President of the Greek Fiscal Council, Ms. Anastasia Miaouli, and the Coordinator of the State Budget Office in the Hellenic Parliament, Mr. Ioannis Tsoukalas.
The Ministerial Forum was attended by the Portuguese Minister of Finance, Mr. Joaquim Miranda Sarmento; the Irish Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Mr. Jack Chambers; the Argentine Chief Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, Mr. Carlos Jose Guberman, the Chief Secretary of the UK Treasury, Ms. Lucy Rigby, and the Canadian Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance, Mr. Ryan Turnbull.
Mr. Petralias presented the country’s successful reform path to address the fiscal challenges of recent decades. He highlighted the most significant reforms that contributed to this progress, such as combating widespread tax and social security contribution evasion by linking POS terminals to cash registers, the mydata platform, and the introduction of the work card. He also referred to measures to stimulate economic growth and disposable income, with an emphasis on reducing corporate tax rates, lowering social security contributions, and reducing tax rates for families with children. Noteworthy is the country’s progress in the investment sector, which has grown from 11% of GDP in 2018 to 18% today.
Mr. Petralias highlighted the importance of citizens understanding the reforms in order for them to be successful. Furthermore, he emphasized the importance of publicizing the cost of interventions and presenting the available fiscal space each time to enhance transparency. He referred to the complexity of the concept of net primary expenditure and the need for continuous communication regarding it.
Finally, he highlighted the importance of deepening the understanding of public finances and the progress made in Greece in recent years regarding reforms related to the substantive evaluation of public expenditures: performance budgeting, expenditure and revenue reviews, the integration of the environmental dimension into the budget, as well as accounting reform. Mr. Petralias emphasized that for the conduct of fiscal policy, both in times of crisis and in normal times, it is particularly important that Greece, in cooperation with the OECD, has developed tools that enhance transparency toward citizens, the country’s resilience, and support the substantive evaluation of the effectiveness of public spending, sound decision-making regarding the allocation of available resources, and the quality of public finances.