The President of the National Confederation of Hellenic Commerce (ESEE) Vasilis Korkidis commented on the recent government-troika negotiations and has expressed his opposition to the imposition of new measures.
Mr. Korkidis warned that an increase to the VAT will have catastrophic effect on the Greek economy, particularly on the islands and has urged the government to not submit to the troika demands.
The ESEE president argued that that the race to come to an agreement with the troika by the Eurogroup scheduled for the 8th of December “will cause even greater problems to the economy, trade and market operation. [We are a] few weeks before the holidays and the last thing we need is to increase consumer insecurity, reduce commercial traffic and further burden the liquidity of companies in the market”.
Mr. Korkidis argued that the troika must understand that Greek society cannot endure any further burdens and that it is in everyone’s interest to find a realistic solution. He also called for everyone implicated in the talks to “demonstrate sincerity and responsibility, so that we don’t have a dangerous setback”.
Hellenic Chamber of Hotels demands PM’s intervention
The Hellenic Chamber of Hotels (XEE) has also reacted to the possibility of a VAT increase on hotel services and has demanded that the Prime Minister intervene. In its statement, the Chamber argues that the VAT increase will have a profound effect on tourism, “the dominant financial activity”, and will jeopardize the Greek economy at the very last moment.
Furthermore, the Chamber stresses that the measure is “shortsighted” and “counterproductive” and warned that the “purely collection logic” will doom Greek tourism to “slipping back into the old, gloomy days”.
