A Topical Question on high prices addressed to Kyriakos Mitsotakis was submitted by the PASOK president, Nikos Androulakis.
The text of the question is as follows:
“To Prime Minister Mr. Kyriakos Mitsotakis
Subject: Does he finally intend to take effective measures to address high prices or will he simply continue to “feel sorry and get angry”?
On November 14, 2025, responding to a topical question of mine on high prices, the Prime Minister defended his Government’s policy toward the increased cost of living.
The Prime Minister, in his usual manner, repeated the standard argument that high prices are a mainly international and imported phenomenon, caused by the impact of the pandemic on global trade and the energy crisis that followed the war in Ukraine, while once again claiming that Greece had cumulatively lower inflation than the European average.
He also argued that the Government is addressing high prices mainly through the permanent increase of incomes. In addition, he cited as major oversight measures the creation of the Unified Market Supervision and Consumer Protection Authority, as well as interventions in the market through “e-Katanalotis” and price regulations on basic products.
On March 11, 2026, the Government issued the Legislative Content Act (LCA) on “Urgent regulations to curb phenomena of unfair profiteering.” Through this, restrictions were established on the sale prices of liquid fuels by petroleum trading companies and fuel stations, and on the profit margins of products necessary for the consumer’s nutrition and livelihood.
On March 25, 2026, it issued the Legislative Content Act “Urgent regulations to address the increase in energy costs and protect affected sectors of the economy.” Through this, it proceeded to grant financial support due to increased energy costs to vehicle owners, with income criteria.
Nevertheless, six months after the Prime Minister’s answer to my question, citizens not only did not see the alleged “benefits” of government policies, but heard with surprise the Prime Minister, last May at the New Democracy congress, declare that “he feels sorry and gets angry that high prices are gnawing away at citizens’ income.”
In mid-June, the retailer consumer product price comparison database “PosoKanei” was presented with fanfare, constituting an upgraded version of e-Katanalotis at the by no means negligible cost of 370,000 euros excluding VAT, as announced.
Last Monday, June 29, 2026, after a meeting of the Prime Minister with market bodies, it was announced that the cap would not be extended on the companies’ profit margin, emphasizing the commitment of businesses that prices would remain the same for the next two months, that is, an extension was given to high prices.
All of the above demonstrate that the Government persists in an ineffective policy for addressing the cost of living at the very moment it insists on presenting government policy as a one-way street and boasting about the fiscal “super-surpluses,” which do not arise from real and sustainable growth, but from inflationary tax windfall revenues that exhaust society.
Indeed, Eurostat’s data continually expose the government: for six consecutive months now, Greece has consistently recorded higher inflation both than the average of the Eurozone and than that of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is indicative that in the last two months Greece has recorded much higher inflation at 4.6% in April and 4.9% in May, while the eurozone average stands at 3% and 3.2% respectively.
It is no coincidence that, in the review of the government’s work for the seven-year period 2019–2026, presented on Sunday, June 28, the Prime Minister chose to compare the cumulative increase in inflation in Greece with the average of the European Union only for the period 2019–2025.
However, if he presented the corresponding comparison of food inflation with the Eurozone and the EU from July 2019 to April 2026, it would be revealed that the cumulative increase in food prices in Greece (42.4%) was higher than the EU average (40.6%) and the Eurozone average (36.0%).
It is further recalled that based on the recently published Eurostat data, Greece in 2025 recorded the lowest per capita GDP in purchasing power terms in the European Union (68% of the European average), now occupying last place together with Bulgaria.
Moreover, at a time when the real income of households remains about 15% lower than pre-crisis levels, housing prices have exceeded 2007 levels, dramatically burdening housing costs. Rents increased by 10% in 2025, while they had increased by 50% in the previous four years.
The result is that the ratio of total housing cost to disposable income (loan installments, rents, shared utility bills, heating), according to Eurostat, is by far the highest in Europe.
Savings in Greece remain steadily negative, proving that the increase in savings concerns a very small number of depositors, as also demonstrated by the data of the Hellenic Deposit and Investment Guarantee Fund.
At the same time, overdue debt to banks, funds, the State and EFKA continues to break one record after another, while the country, according to the available data of the European Commission, collects the fourth-highest indirect taxes as a percentage of GDP in the European Union.
At the same time, the large oligopolies in energy, the banking sector, food trade, health and telecommunications continue to accumulate and, in some cases, advertise their excess profitability.
All of the above demonstrate a rapid redistribution of wealth at the expense of workers, as business profits as a percentage of GDP are the third highest in Europe, while wages as a percentage of GDP are the second lowest in the European Union.
This reality reveals that the benefits of economic growth are not distributed fairly. On the contrary, the increase in the wealth produced is directed disproportionately toward profits, while workers, pensioners and the middle and lower-middle strata continue to see their purchasing power undermined by high housing costs, increasing daily expenses and overdue debts.
Based on the above,
Mr. Prime Minister, you are asked whether, instead of “getting angry and feeling sorry” about high prices that gnaw away at citizens’ income, as your policy is proving completely ineffective:
1. Do you intend to revise the overall mix of your Government’s public policies so that it functions as a barrier and not as a multiplier of high prices that shrink citizens’ income?
2. Will you finally take substantial measures such as those I have repeatedly submitted for curbing profiteering, for protecting and strengthening citizens’ disposable income, and for the realistic and sustainable settlement of overdue debts of households and businesses?”