Greece plans to spend more money on support measures in 2025 as it expects a better primary budget surplus.

Kyriakos pierrakakis, Greece's Finance minister and Eurogroup chief, said that Greece had achieved a primary budget surplus of 2025 which was better than expected. He wants to use this extra fiscal space to help ease the increase in cost of living caused by the Iran -war.

Pierrakakis stated that Greece will announce its final fiscal results and support measures on Wednesday.

"We will announce tomorrow the final fiscal results of 2025." Pierrakakis stated that everything indicates "that the performance is better than expected" with a stronger position in particular?with regards to the surplus.

"This creates additional fiscal space that we intend to direct towards the citizens, while always remaining within the framework of the new fiscal rules in the European Union."

The government officials didn't provide an estimate of?the headroom that the better results? had created.

He added that the Iran War would likely lead to a downward revision of growth forecasts for Greece and other European nations in 2026, whereas inflation estimates are expected to rise.

He said: "This is the result of the crisis we face, particularly in relation to the Strait of Hormuz as well as the Middle East crisis."

He said that the severity of the crisis in?the Strait of 'Hormuz? and the broader?Middle East depended on three things, including the duration of the crisis, the extent of damage done to the energy infrastructure of the region and its aftermath.

I would say that the word duration is key. How long will it be before the Strait is 'closed or in an uncertain state? He said that in recent weeks, data available showed that about 80 energy plants were experiencing problems. Of these, 30 were in a severe state.

(source: Reuters)