Greece is planning a new holiday package of essential Christmas and New Year products in supermarkets, aimed at keeping prices in check ahead of the festive season.
Development Minister Takis Theodorikakos announced the initiative during an interview with public broadcaster ERT, saying he had asked for the market’s cooperation in putting together an expanded selection of products commonly purchased for holiday meals.
At the same time, the minister announced that an existing agreement to keep prices down will be extended through the end of the year. According to Theodorikakos, price reductions have already been recorded on 1,740 individual products.
He placed particular emphasis on unjustified price increases, saying the government is considering additional measures to protect consumers as higher energy costs create new pressures across the market.
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“There will be some increases that will be very reasonable and can be explained and justified by the situation with fuel and energy, which is multiplying costs and producing an outcome that is acceptable because it cannot be avoided,” the minister said.
“But there may also be some who will want to take advantage of this situation to raise prices in ways that cannot be justified.”
He added: “At a time when society is being tested, some will have to decide that they need to reduce their profits, and their average profit margins will have to be lower for a period of time. It cannot be the case that, amid such intense pressures, they are satisfied with enormous profits while part of society is facing enormous hardship.
“Everyone will agree that we need to find a way for it to be understood in the market that, unfortunately, some products are becoming more expensive because of the surge in energy prices. But when some raise prices without justification, that is a problem, and the market will have to correct itself.
“I have received some proposals from the Independent Consumer Protection Authority, which by now has extensive experience from inspections and is monitoring the market very closely and thoroughly. I am studying them. This is something that will obviously be brought before the government as a whole and the country’s prime minister, because it is a major and very substantive issue to determine how the other side of this will work.”
Theodorikakos said he has already received proposals from the relevant independent authority and that they are under consideration as the government looks for ways to address price increases that cannot be justified by rising costs.
Attention is now turning to what the holiday package will contain, which products will be included and what further initiatives will be taken to keep supermarket shelf prices in check.