Photo: Collected
Greek barista Kyriakos Giannichronis has seen the headlines about his country's newly booming economy after years of recession -- but he does not feel the wealth.
The Athens resident only has about 150 euros ($170) to spare at the end of the month, and that is despite getting a good deal on rent and making a little more than minimum wage.
Many Greeks face similar challenges -- which is why Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is widely expected to announce new benefits in a keynote speech this weekend.
"I am responsible enough for what I make, but... everything is going up and up. And the amount we get paid is around the same each year," he said.
"Things look like they're getting better, but it doesn't seem like it," the 27-year-old told AFP.
Living standards in Greece remain low despite the Mediterranean country's substantial rebound which has the economy growing at two percent -- a higher rate than in much of Europe.
The reason for the two sides of the coin is that Greece has significant ground to make up after a near-decade economic crisis and pandemic recession.
The economy "is growing and all the right measures are improving, but starting from a very low basis," economist Nikos Vettas told AFP.
"Even if you have an increase now, this improvement is not enough to catch up," said Vettas, who heads the Greek foundation for economic and industrial research IOBE think-tank.
To further complicate matters, housing and food prices had gone up because of inflation, which only now is on its way down.
"The cost of living actually neutralised part of the increase in the wages that we had, and as a result the real incomes of many households are suffering," Vettas said.
Mitsotakis' conservative government -- which is dipping in the polls -- has blamed the high cost of living on soaring energy prices that followed the war in Ukraine.
His New Democracy party is currently polling at around 22 percent, a far cry from the 40.56 percent it won in national elections last year.
Mitsotakis is expected to announce a new round of benefits in the prime minister's annual economy speech in Thessaloniki this weekend.
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