The Greek Deputy Minister of Economy and Finance, Nikos Papathanasis, said that the absorption of the €19.35 billion of the NSRF, which is now being completed, will be 100% due to the importance of the utilization of European funds for the Greek economy and society.

Full implementation of the national development programme was also announced in the same interview by the responsible Secretary General, Dimitris Skalkos.

Papathanasis pointed out that, according to the European Commission, Greece is in first place in terms of disbursements as a percentage of GDP and in the new NSRF. In percentage terms, Greece ranks 3rd in the absorption of the new NSRF, with payments of €1.169 billion.

Regarding the Recovery Fund, Papathanasis said that the expected disbursements, together with the completion of the fourth tranche of the request in the grants component, will exceed 50% of the total value of the amount to which Greece is entitled. According to a recent study by the European Commission, which Mr. Papathanasis brought up, the Recovery Fund's loan arm has a disbursement rate of 35% and a total loan budget of €12 billion, of which the Fund is responsible for covering €5.17 billion.

In addition, the deputy minister said that the fifth payment request "we plan to make it in October; in total, there are 29 milestones in the grants part".

He went on to say that the 2024 MFF is one of the largest in the last 14 years, at €12.2 billion, up from €11.2 billion in 2023 and announced that the new MFF law will be completed next week, barring an unlikely consultation