Greeks cut back on energy and food to pay taxes

Greek households used 56 million litres less petrol during the first six months of the year, according to data from the Ministry for Environment, while the annual volume of petrol consumption fell by 4%. In an effort to save money and cover increased tax burdens including vehicle registration fees, property and income tax, data showed sales of dairy products were down by 3.5%, while house cleaning producers and personal hygiene products dropped by 4.9% and 4.6%, respectively. The sales of electronics were also down, according to Gfk, as newspaper Ta Nea reports, as IT products fell by 11.2%, telecommunications by 5.3% and electronic goods were down by 5.8%. The consumer confidence index had returned to February 2015 levels.