Bill to free space on electricity grid
The Recovery and Resilience Plan is the “most ambitious program the European Union has ever conceived of planning and implementing,” Environment and Energy Minister Thodoros Skylakakis said on Thursday, expressing satisfaction with the progress in its implementation and the loans envisioned under RepowerEU. The minister was speaking at a conference organized by the Foundation of Economic and Industrial Research (IOBE) in Athens on the implementation of the plan in Greece. Regarding the green transition, Skylakakis revealed that a draft bill for freeing up space on the electricity grid and the installation of batteries will be unveiled soon, as well as a framework for cuts in energy supplied to the network by renewables. Skylakakis said the prospects of establishing environmental equivalents is being examined, stressing that this will be a reform to be presented in the coming months that will facilitate the implementation of investments. He noted that the time of the implementation of investments has an economic dimension and efficiency is a key concept in the reforms that must be carried out in Greece and the EU, as delays were the biggest problem of the European economy in general. The minister stressed that Greece has completed the reforms included in the Recovery and Resilience program and is now proceeding with new ones, while stressing that the hardest part of the program was still to come. He said this involved the implementation of the investments that have been planned and a number of other issues, such as delays due to legal action.
Food prices. The initial feedback regarding the “Lenten Basket” initiative is encouraging, as per reports from Ministry of Development officials. Prices for the most essential items that typically feature on the Lenten menu are either lower or comparable to last year’s figures. Additionally, it’s been disclosed that concerning the quintessential Lenten staple, lagana (traditional Lenten bread), Minister of Development Kostas Skrekas has advocated for its price to remain consistent with last year’s. Specifically, the price of a small lagana (350 gr) is proposed to range from 1.80 to 2 euros while the price of a large one (750 gr) is suggested to be between €2.80 and €3.50.
Cypriot inflation. The Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) in Cyprus rose by 2.1% between February 2023 and February 2024, according to data published by the Statistical Service of Cyprus (CyStat) on Friday.