Greece aims to regain investment grade status next year to unlock billions in funds

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis reiterates his commitment to fiscal targets set in budget

Greece is helping producers and consumers as energy prices rise and Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis says he is determined to restore his country's investment grade. Photo: Reuters

Greece wants to regain investment grade status in early 2023, said Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who pledged not to deviate from fiscal targets.

“I want to return to investment grade in the first months of 2023,” Mr Mitsotakis said in an interview with Skai TV broadcast on Saturday. That would unlock billions in funds that can be invested into the country, he said.

Greece needs to stick to its reform agenda and address imbalances such as high debt and the banking sector’s problems to regain investment grade status, Martin Bijsterbosch, the European Central Bank’s mission chief for Greece, told Bloomberg News this week.

In the interview, Mr Mitsotakis reiterated his commitment to meeting the fiscal targets set in the budget despite tax relief measures he is taking and economic support provided as energy prices increase.

The Greek government has so far spent some €2 billion ($2.27bn) to help households, businesses and farmers mitigate high energy prices, and the support will continue in March and April, he said.

Mr Mitsotakis also said that he intends to abolish a solidarity tax, first imposed during Greece’s bailout programmes and currently suspended for private sector workers, for everyone in 2023.

It was crucial to meet Greece’s fiscal targets and to be sure about budget execution, he said, adding, “There are no money trees.”