Fitch praises Greece for its targeted support measures amid rising energy costs

Since the start of the war in Ukraine, European governments have so far allocated far fewer funds to support measures compared with 2022, when the Russian invasion of Ukraine began.

They have, however, focused on broad-based measures such as fuel tax cuts, even though economists warn that they should focus on targeted measures, such as those to support vulnerable households, given that fiscal space is limited. Federico

Barriga-Salazar noted in a webinar that support measures at this stage are "very small", ranging from 0.3% of GDP in Spain to less than 0.01% of GDP in France and the UK. He explained that if concerns about the outlook for the energy market are confirmed, some countries may be forced to implement further support measures. “ Unfortunately, up to this stage, most of them (the measures) have been untargeted. The only one that has really put in place targeted measures is Greece," said Barriga-Salazar.

"This could, of course, have some significant medium-term effects on public finances if the scope of these measures expands," emphasized the Fitch analyst.