Greek gov't tables draft law to improve primary residence protection scheme

The Greek finance ministry will immediately promote improvements in an existing legislation for the protection of primary residences to make it easier and faster for citizens, Finance Minister Christos Staikouras said on Wednesday.

He said that the ministry, in cooperation with the Private Debt Management special secretariat, has been promoting systematic and coordinated actions over the last three months that aim to improve existing laws for the protection of primary residences, particularly for vulnerable households.

Staikouras added that the ministry, alongside the implementation of tax relief policies and measures to strengthen households' and enterprises' available incomes, is trying to help citizens deal with the high private debt that has accumulated in the last few years while simultaneously exclusing "strategic debtors". In this framework, the Greek Parliament is on Wednesday scheduled to start debating a new bill tabled by the finance ministry that envisages a series of improvements in existing legislation. These changes will cover both new applications for inclusion in the primary residence protection scheme as well as applications that have already been submitted but not yet finalised.