The package of eight measures announced by the government to combat rising costs amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East is worth €100 million, government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis said on Wednesday.

“Let me remind you that measures amounting to €100m were already in place before the crisis, while in our country, inflation was almost zero. To these €100m, another €100m was added with last week’s cabinet decision,” he said.

“Various scenarios have been and are being drawn up in relation to the duration of the crisis,” he said, adding that “we must understand the importance, the value, of having solid financial foundations”.

“It goes without saying that the reason that the government is able to take these measures it has taken, but also to take additional measures if necessary, is the solid economic foundations, the fiscal capabilities, the fiscal space of the state, the community, due to the responsible economic policy which is being followed,” he said.

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Asked whether further economic measures may be announced in time, he said that “what the government is doing is to evaluate the data daily, as it happens, in relation to developments”.

“We are in the midst of a regional crisis of which we do not yet know the duration or the depth, nor, of course, the possible effects on energy prices of the cost of living,” he said.

The eight measures announced last week saw the reduced five-per-cent rate of value added tax on electricity being extended until May next year, having initially been expected to expire next month, while the fuel consumption tax will be reduced by 8.33 cents per litre between now and June.

The rate of VAT on meat, poultry and fish will be zeroed between now and September, while “green taxes” on fuel, which had been set to raise the retail price of fuel by nine cents per litre, will not be implemented.

The government will also offer to cover 30 per cent of the wages of all workers in the hotel sector during this month, and will draw up a “special plan for more support for airlines to secure the seamless connectivity of the country with important destinations for the attraction of tourists”.

Additionally, the government will subsidise 15 per cent of the cost of all fertiliser and agricultural supplies for farmers in April and May. The subsidies for farmers are counted as two separate measures.