Greece comes in 6th in absorption of NSRF funds, out of the 28 EU member states, according to European Commission data (https://cohesiondata.ec.europa.eu/overview), the Development & Investments Ministry said on Thursday.

In 2020, absorption by Greece reached 62 percent (in terms of EU contributions), with the total of expenditures reaching 11.6 billion euros. The same year, the country took advantage of the flexibility provided by the EU's temporary framework to manage health, economic and social repercussions of the coronavirus pandemic, activating co-finance funds totalling 6.5 billion euros.

"The high absorption rates are also reflected in the increased requests for payments, to the European Commission," the ministry noted. "Cumulatively for 2020, requests were submitted totalling 4.3 billion euros, of which 3.6 billion flowed into Greece's public revenues. It should be noted that this is the highest amount of annual requests since the start of NSFR 2014-2020," it added.

Greece also came in at the very top in terms of absorbing funds from the European Regional Development Fund, and second in funds absorbed through the European Social Fund.

In terms of the Public Investment Program (PIP) for 2020, its execution rate was 100 pct, while its limit increased successively within the year to reach 10.6 billion euros - the highest limit of the last two decades - to cover the increased funding needs. 

Commenting on the PIP, Development & Investments Minister Adonis Georgiadis said, Greece achieved "an absolute record rate of all times - 10.6 billion. We raised Greece several rungs up in the related EU chart in terms of absorption, and proved we can move faster than many other European countries." In the midst of a pandemic, he said, "we surpassed in speed and effectiveness many other countries that were much better organized than ours, a result of hard work and great professionalism."