PM Mitsotakis: The bill introduces lower social security contributions

The Prime Minister noted that "citizens should be gradually relieved of burdens and at the same time employment should be strengthened. A key element in the bill, which will soon be state law, is the new de-escalation of insurance contributions."

"We know," Mitsotakis said, from all international surveys, "that the non-wage cost in our country remains disproportionately high, encouraging the informal economy, discouraging investment, encouraging tax evasion."

"(The bill) benefits almost two million employees," the prime minister stressed. "It means an annual profit of 228 euros for the employee with a salary of 1,000 euros. And 456 euros for someone with a salary of 2,000 euros. The scale and benefits for businesses are similar. It is an extremely important intervention for salaried employment, which was particularly hard hit during the pandemic," he said.

The premier also noted its "favourable provisions" for the labour sector and production in a time of pandemic: "Let me outline some of the important ones. The self-employed and employers can settle debts to the insurance funds in 24 installments. The same goes for those who did not manage to benefit from extensions of recent months. For December, the minimum guaranteed income for the almost 500,000 beneficiaries is doubled. The measure includes, for the first time, homeless people and women, the women victims of violence currently living in hostels. The bill to be voted on today is symbolic."