Background information

On 23 December 2022, the government, with law 5007 (article 115) established the granting of financial assistance (with the name “market pass”) to households from the state budget. The aid is intended to cover a part of the increased cost of purchases, especially foodstuff, resulted by the significant increase in the consumer price index.

The duration of the financial support was set for the period from February 2023 to July 2023. Subsequent interministerial Decision No. 1170 on 20 January 2023 sets out the details of the implementation of the measure.

The application (platform) for the submission of electronic applications for Market Pass starts on 22 February 2023.

Content of measure

The Market Pass will provide financial aid equaling 10% of households' expenses in food retail businesses. The grant will be maximum €220 for a single-member household, increased by €100 for each additional household member and up to €1,000 for purchases. The amounts are credited monthly to a digital debit card or to a bank account. The beneficiaries of the aid are individual persons if:

• The annual total family income is up to €16,000 for an unmarried person and €24,000 for a married couple, which is increased by €5,000 for each dependent child. *The total value of the real estate property does not exceed €250,000 for single people and €400,000 for married people

The beneficiary shall make the application on the relevant electronic platform on the Single Digital Portal of the Public Administration . The cost of the measure will be covered by the budget reserve to combat the energy crisis. The budgetary cost for the six months, assuming that around half of households will opt to use a debit digital debit card, amounts to around €650 million.

Use of measure

According to government estimates, the income criteria set by the government cover the 83% of households and property criteria cover 95% of households. Potential beneficiaries are estimated at around 3.2 million households (out of 4.1 million households) with around 8.5 million household’s members (out of 10.4 million people).

The weighted average purchase limit is estimated at around €380 and concerns purchases of around €1.2 billion per month.

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Does not apply to workers	Does not apply to businesses	Other groups of citizens

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
National government	National funds

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	No involvement	No involvement
Form	Not applicable	Not applicable

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

• No involvement
• Main level of involvement: N/A

Involvement

There is no involvement of social partners.

Views and reactions

There are no social partner's reactions to the measure.

Sources

• 23 December 2022: Law 5007/2022 (www.taxheaven.gr)
• 18 February 2023: Market Pass. Την Τετάρτη ξεκινούν οι αιτήσεις (www.odigostoupoliti.eu)