Mitsotakis announces 10-cent petrol cut until August after fiery Greek parliament clash over living costs

The parliamentary hour of the Prime Minister turned into a fierce exchange over the rising cost of living, with Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Nikos Androulakis trading accusations over inflation, wages and market regulation before the Prime Minister announced a direct intervention to lower fuel prices until the end of August.

The cost-of-living collision

Opening the debate, PASOK leader Nikos Androulakis described the government's record as a daily indictment written in citizens' wallets. He cited Eurostat figures showing Greek general inflation running above the Eurozone average for seven consecutive months and noted that food prices had risen 42% since 2019, compared with a 36% average across the currency bloc.

Leave the 'I'm sorry' and the 'I'm angry'. Citizens don't need your compassion; they need solutions, solutions you did not deliver.

Androulakis described inflation as a "silent tax on every citizen's income" and questioned whether Greece, after seven years of New Democracy governance, was supposed to rank alongside Bulgaria at the bottom of Europe in purchasing power. He also challenged the wage narrative, pointing to INE/GSEE data suggesting the real average annual wage rose only 0.3% between 2019 and 2025.

Mitsotakis defends the numbers

Mitsotakis responded with a defence of his government's economic record, arguing that Greece of 2026 was very different from the Greece of 2019. He stated the minimum wage had climbed from €650 to €920, a cumulative increase of roughly 40%. The Prime Minister also said cumulative inflation in Greece up to mid-2026 stood at 23%, below the 26% recorded in the Eurozone over the 2019–2025 period.

"There is no magic solution for the cost-of-living crisis," Mitsotakis said, adding that public debt had fallen from 182% to 146% of GDP and was projected to drop below 130%, lifting Greece's status as Europe's most indebted country. He attributed better state revenues to a crackdown on tax evasion, asserting his government succeeded where predecessors had failed.

The fuel-price announcement and the Gulf factor

The most concrete outcome came when Mitsotakis announced an agreement with Greece's two refineries to cut petrol prices by 10 cents per litre and diesel by 5 cents per litre until the end of August. He linked the measure to supply-chain disruption after the Gulf crisis, stating that refinery destruction in the wider region had created new pressure on European fuel prices through reduced output and seasonal demand. Implementation details are expected next week, and sources from the Maximos Mansion said it was the first time a government had intervened with refineries in this way.

After the Gulf crisis, refineries were destroyed in the wider region, creating new pressures on petrol and diesel prices in Europe, due to reduced production and seasonal demand. The government, in coordination with the two Greek refineries, responds to this challenge: the refineries committed to contribute financially. Result: a reduction of 10 cents per litre on petrol and 5 cents on diesel until the end of August.

"Political Lazarus" and the 13th pension

Beyond the economic argument, the debate descended into personal jousting. Mitsotakis accused Androulakis of reviving political figures who "should not have a substantive presence," a clear reference to former Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, though he did not name him. The Prime Minister said Androulakis had earned the title of "political Lazarus" and accused PASOK of populism, singling out the party's promise of a 13th pension as uncosted. Mitsotakis claimed he had requested a costing from the State Accounting Office, dismissing PASOK's proposals as "grocer's-shop politics" emanating from Charilaou Trikoupis street.

Cartel claims and the August price pledge

Androulakis also attacked a separate government initiative for a 5% price reduction on selected goods from 31 August, reached at a meeting between the Development Minister and market representatives. He called it "a futile gift," asking whether prices would first rise in the interim, and described the Maximos Mansion meeting with market actors as a "tacit acceptance of cartels" and an admission that the government could not institutionally enforce competition rules.

Mitsotakis closed by challenging Androulakis to present specific, costed alternatives, suggesting the PASOK leader's second speech should explain what he would do differently beyond promising additional salary and pension payments. The session ended with no resolution beyond the fuel-price pledge, which will take effect once the implementation details are published next week.