Greek government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis has criticized an economic plan put forward by former prime minister Alexis Tsipras, calculating its annual cost at 13 billion euros while claiming proposed taxes on the wealthy would cover only a fraction of the bill.
Speaking at a press briefing in Athens on Thursday, Marinakis said that a proposed patriotic contribution tax on Greece's top earners would yield just 145 million euros, leaving an unfunded gap of more than 12.5 billion euros in the opposition leader's proposals.
Marinakis accused Tsipras of lacking self-criticism and attempting to rewrite history, comparing his latest pledges to the uncosted promises of his 2014 Thessaloniki programme.
Housing calculation and tax revenues
To illustrate his point, the government spokesman broke down the cost of Tsipras's proposal to construct 50,000 new housing units across the country. Based on an average construction cost of 2,000 euros per square meter for an 80-square-meter home, Marinakis calculated the cost per property at 160,000 euros.
Multiplying that figure across 50,000 homes brings the price tag of the housing measure alone to 8 billion euros, Marinakis noted, adding that little detailed analysis was needed to reveal what he called the scale of the deception.
Addressing the opposition's proposed patriotic contribution tax on the top one percent of earners, Marinakis cited official tax return data from 2024. The top tier comprises roughly 67,000 individuals with a combined taxable income of 14.5 billion euros, meaning a one percent levy would generate 145 million euros.
Even if economic growth had raised that tax yield to 200 million euros today, Marinakis said the distance to 13 billion euros remained vast, questioning repeatedly where Tsipras intended to find the remaining funds.
Tsipras served as prime minister of Greece from 2015 to 2019 after leading the left-wing Syriza party to power on an anti-austerity platform. His 2014 Thessaloniki programme formed the core of his initial economic platform before taking office. Marinakis contrasted Tsipras's record with the government's economic performance since 2019, highlighting improvements in employment, investment, and tax reduction.
Opposition rivalries and upcoming government measures
Marinakis also targeted the opposition socialist party PASOK, which had issued a statement accusing Tsipras of harboring illusions while claiming he had copied 80 percent of PASOK's own economic agenda.
Responding to the statement, Marinakis remarked that if Tsipras was copying PASOK, then PASOK must be suffering from illusions as well, advising the party's leadership at its Harilaou Trikoupi headquarters in Athens to look in the mirror.
PASOK, formally known as the Panhellenic Socialist Movement, is one of Greece's historic political parties and currently forms a primary opposition bloc against the governing New Democracy party.
Beyond criticizing opposition proposals, Marinakis outlined upcoming policy decisions from Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis ahead of his main economic address at the Thessaloniki International Fair on Saturday.
The government spokesman confirmed that Mitsotakis will announce a broad package of horizontal economic measures. Marinakis emphasized that the initiative will not consist of one-off handouts, clarifying that all measures announced by the prime minister will be permanent and will take effect from 2027 onward.
The Thessaloniki International Fair is an annual commercial and political event held every September in Greece's second-largest city, where Greek prime ministers traditionally deliver a flagship speech outlining state economic strategy for the coming year.
