Government spokesperson Pavlos Marinakis launched an attack on Alexis Tsipras over his stance on a special levy on banks during a briefing with political editors.
“The man who shut down the banks is talking about deferred taxes and banks. He is unrepentant; he wants to lead us back to the nightmarish days we experienced in previous years. He is distorting reality. The banks’ excess profits are not broken down the way he claims; the banks must support the economy. The government is the first to have taken action on fees and other initiatives. “Mr. Tsipras led the country to the brink; everything he says is based on inaccuracies or superficial analyses,” he emphasized.
Contrary to what Mr. Tsipras says, the government spokesperson noted, “banks in Greece do not have the highest profitability in Europe; there are six countries with higher profitability. Banks have begun to finance the real economy; a stable banking system is not a given for Greece. The increase in their net profitability in 2025 is not primarily due to an increase in their net operating income.
Rather, it is linked to a significant reduction in asset impairments and provisions for future losses. In other words, it increased because losses decreased—and thus because the economy improved. Banks owe money to the government due to deferred taxes. If they do not make a profit, this tax is passed on to the taxpayer.
I do not underestimate the importance of this discussion; we certainly need to examine various issues, such as when we intervene regarding the fees charged to citizens. But the way Mr. Tsipras frames these questions and conducts his analysis is rife with populism and inaccuracies, and leads to results that are the opposite of what the country needs. The country needs a stable banking system that operates soundly, according to rules—not unchecked—that finances the economy and contributes to job creation, serving as a catalyst for growth.”
Regarding the former prime minister’s criticism of the government’s work, Mr. Marinakis said:
“It took the newly formed party more than 24 hours to come up with a response that contains a major lie in almost every line. Mr. Tsipras is known for his lies; this is a slapdash response that misuses artificial intelligence. The party of the man who, during his tenure as prime minister, left the country trailing in terms of growth rates is now talking about growth. Unemployment stood at 18% and is now below 8%. The economy’s competitiveness is not deteriorating, no matter which indicator is used to measure it. A surplus isn’t built on austerity; the Tsipras government’s surplus was the result of overtaxation. We have only increased the ENFIA property tax on banks for foreclosed properties and have not raised any VAT rates. Mr. Tsipras says the debt isn’t decreasing, but all countries around the world measure their debt relative to GDP; Greece ranks first in the rate of debt reduction relative to GDP.
Furthermore, the state’s overdue debts are not increasing; non-performing loans have decreased, and it is not true that this is happening because they were transferred to investment funds. Moreover, since Mr. Tsipras left office, investments have increased by 95%, while in Europe they rose by 5%. For exports, the European average is 50%; under Tsipras we were at 20%, and we are now at 40%. Everything in this statement of his is false. There is no doubt that people are asking for more; the only way to achieve this is through a policy that lowers taxes and increases tax revenue. We have managed to get a country that was once the black sheep of Europe back on track as quickly as possible. We will not return to false promises and borrowed money.”
Regarding the dilemma of corruption versus integrity posed by Alexis Tsipras, the government spokesperson commented: “Tsipras’s integrity is the shortest political joke of recent years. He is the prime minister of the two convicted ministers; he knew about the deaths in Mati and staged a media spectacle; Europe asked him to tax shipowners, but he taxed retirees and the middle class; who deceived an entire nation by staging a referendum and saddled the country with 120 billion euros in debt, and who released criminals under a new penal code.”