The Alternate Minister of Finance, responsible for preparing and coordinating the implementation of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, Mr. Theodore Skylakakis, made the following statement:

“Today is an important day for our country. The Ecofin has given the final approval for the National Recovery and Resilience Plan “Greece 2.0”. “Greece 2.0” was the second National Plan submitted and the third to be endorsed by the European Commission, receiving excellent comments on its completeness and quality, both from European officials, as well as by international investment and financial institutions.

The “Greece 2.0” plan includes 106 investments and 68 reforms that are meticulously described and costed in 4,104 pages; the  31.16 billion from European funds  (18.43 billion euros in grants and  12.73 billion euros in loans) will mobilise a total of 60 billion euros in investments in the country over the next five years, to permanently increase GDP by 7 points and also create 180.000 – 200.000 new jobs. It is a Plan that aims to lead to a fundamental economic and social transformation of the country, having a catalytic effect on economic activity, technologies, institutions, and attitudes.

But the most difficult step still lies ahead of us. And this is about making effective use of the huge funds – greater per capita than for any other European country – which are made available to Greece by today’s decision for investments and reforms that will make life better for every citizen of our country. Investments and reforms in green and digital transformation, in the social state – health, education, welfare, training – in infrastructure projects and private investment in all sectors of the economy.

Greece 2.0 includes grants of 1.5 billion euros exclusively for small and medium-sized enterprises and access to low-interest loans for all companies in the country wishing to invest in green and digital transformation, extroversion, research and innovation or achieving economies of scale; because the ultimate goal is not merely to achieve a robust economic recovery, but to enter in a stable course of growth and change the country’s production model to become more extroverted, more competitive and greener and at the same time more resilient, for the benefit of the entire Greek society. The challenge is historic, and the opportunity is unique.”