The increase in the minimum wage to 880 euros per month from April 1 dominated the press briefing given by government spokesperson Pavlos Marinakis on Thursday.

This new increase in the minimum wage is another important piece of news and constitutes another step towards achieving the goal set by the government to raise the minimum wage to 950 euros a month at the end of its four-year term, he said.

It is also encouraging that, despite the successive increases in the minimum wage, unemployment continues to decrease, having reached its lowest rate (8.7%) since 2008, while 500,000 new jobs have been created, Marinakis added.

"The goal of the government," he said, "is for most people to earn salaries higher than the minimum wage," and added that salaries above 1,000 euros represent 53.7% of the total, from 36.3% in 2019.

He also referred to the Chevron company's expression of interest, noting that "after this development, Greece is entering international markets with four new areas up for concession (Block A2, South Peloponnese, South Crete 1 and South Crete 2), with a total area of 47 thousand square kilometers, which essentially doubles the area of active marine areas for exploration.

"The increase in plots available for exploration enhances and multiplies the chances of identifying commercially exploitable deposits for the benefit of all Greeks. Greece is strengthening, building alliances and exercising its rights in practice," he stated.