Gov’t spokesman: Parties should have their economic plans officially assessed before announcing them

Greek parties’ economic policy programs, announced ahead of elections on May 21, must be “reliable and feasible,” government spokesman and State Minister Akis Skertsos said on Thursday, and challenged parties to submit their programs to a cost review.

Skertsos followed up on statements made by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis during Wednesday’s televised debate of party leaders, that “parties’ programs should be financially assessed by an official agency, whether that is the General Accounting Office of the state or the Bank of Greece.”

In his statement, Skertsos said, “Parties’ economic programs must be reliable and feasible. For this reason, we issue and invitation and a challenge for an agreement on two things:

a) For all parties to directly send our economic programs for cost assessment to one of the following three institutions: the state’s General Accounting Office (GAO), the Hellenic Fiscal Council, or the Bank of Greece. We have already had our economic program assessed at 9 billion euros, cumulatively over four years, with GAO data under the General Secretariat of Fiscal Policy, and

b) For all parties to fully support a legislative regulation in the next parliamentary session that will mandate parties to submit their economic programs for cost assessment to the Hellenic Fiscal Council, before they formally announce them to the public.

Will they accept?”