A few years ago, a large number of state benefits for citizens might have been viewed as government waste.

Of late, however, successive crises that hit hard at the budgets of households have become par for the course.

The repercussions of the pandemic on a global level and the consequences of the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war, in the heart of Europe, mandate smart adjustments and state intervention, wherever and whenever necessary.

This is the moment that such decisions must be made.

The government already took the first step last month, approving assistance packages for citizens who need them most.

As long as the current international situation persists, the government is obliged to exhaust all possible measures to assist vulnerable social groups.

They include not only those who find it difficult to afford summer vacations this year, but also those who cannot even consider them and are struggling with galloping inflation, fuel price hikes, and bloated bills.

The months ahead will be tough. The prospect of new assistance packages that the finance minister has left open will offer those in need an important breather as autumn approaches.

The Greek economy is a particular case, which must be handled carefully and with prudence, so as to avoid a repetition of the mistakes that led to the debt crisis in the past.

After exiting the EU’s enhanced fiscal supervision mechanism, however, the government has a duty to stand by society, and to seek fiscal space in order to do so, as it has done recently.

Offering citizens more economic breathers is not a luxury. It is a necessity.

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