During the debate on the Ministry of Finance’s bill, Michalis Katrinis, a member of Parliament from Elis, accused the government of providing selective benefits and services to specific groups, while at the same time the government continues to reject PASOK’s proposals to expand the classification of heavy and unhealthy work to include more categories of workers.
“Is the state functioning?” was the central question he posed, contrasting the government’s narrative with the actual data of an economy in which the debts of citizens and businesses continue to balloon, exports declined in the first quarter, business activity has fallen by 17% in the first four months of the year, and Greece is recording 5% inflation—a significant deviation from the eurozone’s 3.2%.
He emphasized, in fact, that while applications for social tourism programs increased by 50% (over 800,000 applications in 2026), which is indicative of Greeks’ inability to take vacations, there was an 11% increase in May in accommodation prices across the country.
As he noted, within four months, the government’s debts to suppliers increased by 350 million euros, outstanding tax refunds by 29 million euros, while within a single month, the government’s overdue payments to local governments and social security agencies rose by 90 million euros, with debts to healthcare suppliers having risen by 326% since 2019, proving that, to a large extent, these “surpluses” are also generated by spending cuts.
He highlighted the state’s ineffectiveness in combating economic crime. As he pointed out, over the past decade, while taxes totaling 1.63 billion euros were assessed, only 19.4 million euros were actually collected! In fact, in 2021, 982.6 million euros were assessed, but only 2.6 million euros were collected (a rate of 0.27%!).
What is striking, however, are the figures regarding the assessed amounts, which dropped dramatically from 982.6 million euros in 2021 to 177.5 million euros in 2022, 155.8 million euros in 2023, €98 million in 2024, and €63.7 million in 2025! “Has criminal activity in Greece been crushed or has it simply vanished?” the MP from Elis asked rhetorically.
He placed particular emphasis on the explosion of private debt, since, according to the Bank of Greece report, “non-performing” loans increased by 2.2 billion euros in 2025. As he noted, of the 79 billion euros in actually collectible tax debts, only 5.26% of these debts are currently being settled through a payment plan. Overdue debts to the EFKA (Unified Social Security Fund) increased by 2 billion euros in one year, and the corresponding debts to the tax authorities rose by 17.7%.
He described the 72-installment payment plan as inadequate, noting that previous similar plans in 2022 and 2023 resulted in only a few thousand debt settlements. He contrasted this with PASOK’s proposal for 120 installments and a 30% reduction in the amount, provided the repayment plan is adhered to.
He spoke of the complete failure of the out-of-court mechanism, noting that out of the 7 million tax identification numbers with outstanding debts, fewer than 61,000 debtors have enrolled in the program, while he described the repayment plan for Swiss franc loans as extremely limited, noting that it does not provide a viable solution for borrowers, and cited PASOK’s specific proposal