MacroPolis

Details of the government’s spending on the Covid-19 public information campaign were released on Monday, prompting fresh accusations of political favouritism and untransparent dealings.

The latest macroeconomic data has highlighted the fiscal pressure that is mounting on Greece’s centre-right government, especially as it hopes to return to its programme of tax cuts later this year.

The question of how the pandemic communications budget was distributed continues to dog Kyriakos Mitsotakis’s government, as the voices calling for full transparency are intensifying.

The annual Digital News Report by the Reuters institute, updated for 2020, has revealed that Greeks continue to express high levels of distrust in the media sources they access.

Senior government figures are insisting there will be no return to a full lockdown as concerns over lax observance of hygiene measures intensify. Meanwhile, the government is being accused of lack of transparency over the use of funds for public health campaigns in the emergency pandemic package.

The Greek government is set to announce by April 27, when many of the current restrictions on movement are set to expire, its plans for starting to lift the lockdown that has been in place since March 23.

Authorities are focussing their efforts on containing a new coronavirus outbreak in central Greece that could risk upsetting efforts to suppress the disease, such as school closures, which the government announced on Friday would be extended for another month.

Greece feels that over the last few days there has been a notable increase in Turkey aggressiveness, both in words and actions, putting Athens on alert.

The government is trying to avoid tying itself up in knots after coming under attack from all sides on Wednesday, when it passed an amendment that ensures two football clubs from northern Greece will not be relegated despite an independent commission recommending that they be expelled from the Super League.

The government is attempting to correct its latest misstep after it suspended a decision to subsidise Greece’s print media to the tune of 6.7 million euros.