Greece's parliament approved the country's 2026 budget amid protests by farmers and public sector workers over delayed subsidies and a cost-of-living crisis. The budget includes forecasts that the economy will grow 2.4 per cent next year from a projected 2.2 per cent this year and generate a primary surplus, which excludes debt servicing costs, of 2.8 per cent of gross domestic product.
Earlier on Tuesday, hundreds of Greeks rallied in central Athens and doctors and teachers joined public sector workers who walked off the job. Protesters also expressed solidarity with farmers who have deployed thousands of tractors and trucks in dozens of blockades for a third week, disrupting traffic along major motorways and border crossings to protest at delays in European Union aid and other payments prompted by probes into a corruption scandal.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced the distribution of about 160 million euros in aid to farmers and breeders, on top of about 500 million euros already released recently. He added that his centre-right government would offer 400 million euros in new subsidies to help renovate homes which are currently off the market, a move aimed at covering a shortfall in long-term rentals that has spiked housing costs. — Reuters
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