Annual inflation in Greece stood at 5.2 percent in May 2026, outpacing the broader euro area average of 3.2 percent. According to the 2026 UBS Global Wealth Report, wealth inequality has increased, with fewer and fewer people benefiting from the growth of total aggregate wealth. Even though net worth has been expanding steadily since 2020, the gap between the rich and the general population continues to grow.
“We have the invisible corruption tax — and I call it a tax because I believe that the cost of the widespread and unprecedented levels of corruption in Greece is so great that it deprives social policy of resources,” he said.
“Every euro lost through direct awards in public tenders and the misappropriation of European funds is a euro lost from public schools, teachers’ salaries, public hospitals, and nurses’ wages,” he added.
When asked about the political implications of his reputation as a maverick radical from the eurozone crisis, Tsipras said many people only remembered his premiership for the wild first six months when Athens was on a precipice and liable to crash out of the eurozone.
He portrayed himself instead as the leader of a party that finally steadied the ship.
“There is an effort to focus on the first six months of the premiership from January to July [2015], but there is also the period before and after. The country didn’t enter the crisis because of our policies … We reached a difficult agreement, marked by conflicts and tensions, but ended the bailouts, restored the economy’s credibility and achieved positive growth rates.”