"The struggle to ensure that Greek consumers enjoy quality products at reasonable prices is continuing. I am glad to see that for a series of products, fruits and vegetables, we have lower prices than last year," Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis tweeted on Monday, after a visit to the Central Vegetable Market of Athens in Agios Ioannis Renti.
"We are fighting, with strict inspections of the market and in collaboration with the entire supply chain, to be able to offer products to consumers at prices that are equivalent to or lower than last year," Mitsotakis said, stressing that the battle against inflation was ongoing.
For the first time, he added, there were encouraging signs and the "persistent inflation in food appears to be starting to level off".
The prime minister, who was accompanied by Development Minister Kostas Skrekas, spoke with merchants about prices, the supply chain and the investments that have been made for the storage and transportation of goods. He was also told about the strong interest shown in Greek products abroad and the qualitative edge that will enable Greek exports to increase their penetration and share of foreign markets.
In a statement after the visit, Mitsotakis emphasised its significance at a time when there was an ongoing effort to ensure that Greeks can access high-quality, affordable products, while he also referred to the launch of the 'Godparent Basket' and 'Easter Basket' and emphasised that the more suppliers invest in logistics infrastructure and the better the operation of the supply chain, the better the prices for consumers will be.
"As I said, for many products we actually have falling prices, which was the goal so as to provide relief to the average household and so that we can all have a happy, smiling Easter, enjoying the best possible prices for the traditional Easter products," he added.
Skrekas said that the government's effort to ensure affordable prices at Easter was continuing, with the 'Godparent Basket' launched on Monday and the upcoming 'Easter Basket' on Wednesday, which will include lamb and kid meats, Easter buns and chocolate eggs, among others. He said the prices for meat were expected to be the same or lower than those of the previous year's Basket.