An attack on Alexis Tsipras over his position on an extraordinary levy on banks was launched by the government spokesperson, Pavlos Marinakis, during the briefing of political editors.
"He talks about deferred tax and banks, the man who closed them. He is unrepentant, he wants to lead us to the nightmarish days we lived through in previous years. He distorts reality. The excess profits of the banks are not analyzed as he claims, the banks must support the economy. The government is the first to have made interventions on charges and other initiatives. Mr. Tsipras led the country to the brink, everything he says is based on inaccuracies or shallow analyses," he stressed.
Contrary to what Mr. Tsipras says, the government spokesperson noted, "the banks do not have higher profitability in Europe, there are six countries with higher profitability. The banks have started to finance the real economy, a stable banking system is not something given for Greece. The increase in their final profitability in 2025 is not primarily due to an increase in their net operating income.
On the contrary, it is linked to the large reduction in asset impairments and provisions for future losses. That is, it increased because losses were reduced, therefore because the economy improved. The banks owe the state because of the deferred tax. If they do not have profits, this tax comes as a bill to the taxpayer.
I do not underestimate the discussion, certainly we must look at various issues, such as when we intervene on citizens' charges. But the way Mr. Tsipras raises these questions and makes the analysis is rife with populism, inaccuracies and leads to the opposite results from those the country needs. The country needs a stable banking system that functions soundly, with rules, not unchecked, that finances the economy and contributes to the creation of jobs, that is a factor in accelerating growth."
Regarding the former prime minister's criticism of the government's work, Mr. Marinakis said:
"It took a little more than 24 hours for the newly formed party to issue a response that has in almost every line a big lie. Mr. Tsipras is known for his lies, it is a hasty response with poor use of artificial intelligence. His party speaks about growth, the party of the person under whose premiership the country was a laggard in growth rates. Unemployment was at 18% and today it is below 8%. The competitiveness of the economy is not worsening, by whatever index it is measured. The surplus is not built on high prices, the surplus of the Tsipras government was a product of overtaxation, we have increased only the ENFIA on banks for closed properties and no VAT. Mr. Tsipras says the debt is not decreasing, yet throughout the world all states measure their debt in relation to GDP, Greece is the first country in the rate of debt reduction relative to GDP.
Also, the state's overdue debts are not increasing, non-performing loans have decreased, it is not true that this is happening because they were given to the funds. Besides, since Mr. Tsipras left, investments have increased by 95%, while in Europe they increased by 5%. In exports the European average is 50%, under Tsipras we were at 20% and we are at 40%. Everything this statement of his says is false. There is no doubt that people are asking for more, the only way for this to happen is with a policy that reduces taxes and increases tax revenues. We have managed for a country that was the black sheep of Europe to return with the greatest possible speed. We will not return to fake things and borrowed money."
Regarding the dilemma of corruption or integrity posed by Alexis Tsipras, the government spokesperson commented: "Tsipras' integrity is the shortest political joke of recent years. He is the prime minister of the two convicted ministers, who knew about the dead in Mati and put on a communication show, who was asked by Europe to tax the shipowners and instead taxed pensioners and the middle class, who deceived an entire people by staging a referendum and burdened the country with 120 billion euros, who released criminals with a new penal code."