Greece announces aid worth 500 million euros to contain impact of Iran war on households

Greece on Wednesday announced 500 million euros in extra aid to households and farmers struggling with the impact of the Iran war after a higher primary budget surplus for 2025 offered headroom for fresh support.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said the government will offer a mix of emergency and permanent measures, which include extending fuel subsidies for May and fertiliser subsidies until August. He also announced a one-off allowance for families with children and higher annual aid for low-income pensioners.

“It is the best we can do without disrupting the economic balance that we have achieved with such hard work,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in a statement. “The nation’s economy is holding up and doing better than expected. However, the stress of the supermarket, the expenses of children, more expensive fuel and the care of the elderly remain.”

Greece reported a higher budget surplus for 2025, giving it fiscal space to extend more aid to households and farmers hit by rising living costs amid the war in Iran and ongoing tensions in the Strait of Hormuz which have disrupted energy supplies.

With the economy recovering strongly from a 2009-2018 debt crisis but relying heavily on ‌Middle ⁠East oil imports, the government has already offered subsidies for fuel and fertilizers and ferry ticket discounts worth a total ​of ⁠300 million euros. It has also pledged separate aid worth 100 million euros a year for the next ​five years to help industries and smaller ‌businesses with surging energy costs.