The budget for the National Solidarity Fund, which runs a surplus, was unanimously approved on Thursday by the Plenary Session of Parliament. It projects revenues of €50,000,000, derived from a government grant, and projected expenditures of €28,725,199, relating primarily to social benefits and the services of experts and consultants.
The fund’s cash and cash equivalents as of January 1, 2026, amounted to €189,180,218.
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
According to data submitted to the Finance Committee, of the total expenditures included in the budget, an amount of approximately €10,000.000 is allocated to cover payments for the remaining amounts under the approved Partial Reimbursement Plan of the National Solidarity Fund for the year 2025.
Specifically, payments are being made to eligible individuals under the plan who have confirmed their information, but for whom confirmation of the payment amount and their bank account details is still pending, as well as to eligible individuals who filed an appeal, pursuant to the terms and conditions of the program, as well as to eligible individuals for whom, due to technical reasons, it was not possible to process the payment.
As for the remaining amount of the total expenditures, amounting to approximately €18,000,000, the Ministry of Finance’s intention, as stated to the committee, is to extend the original plan and disburse additional funds to those beneficiaries who have already received payments under the original plan.
It should be noted that the government intends to have the plan’s original online platform back up and running by the end of fall 2026, so that individuals may once again submit applications, in case they did not do so during the program’s initial operation for any reason.
These applications will pertain to a new program for the year 2027, and the resulting needs will be included in the fund’s budget for the year 2027.
This new plan will include those approved under the 2025 plan, as well as those approved under the new 2027 plan. The terms and conditions of the new plan for the year 2027 are expected to be similar to those of the original plan and will be determined based on the number of applications submitted, as well as the available budget.
“As reported to the Committee, during the application period for the initial program, approximately 9,700 applications were submitted, and payments were made to approximately 7,160 applicants (individuals). Of the approved budget of €100,000,000 for 2025, €71,279,801 was spent for this purpose.
Due to a constitutional impediment regarding twelve state-owned properties valued at approximately €100,000,000, it was not possible to transfer them to the fund. According to the Ministry of Finance, state property may only be disposed of for public benefit purposes, which does not apply in this specific case.
In any case, the government has been subsidizing the fund annually since its establishment with an amount of €50,000,000, which, when considered in proportion to the total, has exceeded the initial estimate of the value of the real estate to be transferred to the fund.
Source: CNA
