State pharmaceutical spending will not fall below 2.88 billion euros this year, despite a demand by the EC-ECB-IMF “troika” to cut spending to 2.1 billion euros (1.0 percent of GDP), Health Minister Andreas Loverdos said on Thursday, speaking during a meeting with pharmaceutical industry and medical representatives.
The minister said the ministry would like pharmaceutical spending to be around 3.1 billion euros in 2012 and noted that a compromise was reached with the ‘troika’. Pharmaceutical spending totaled 4.1 billion euros in 2011, surpassing a budget target of 3.8 billion euros.
Representatives of the pharmaceutical industry said their businesses could not afford any more pressure, saying the government decision was not only eating away at their profit margin, but at their capital as well.
(source: ana-mpa)
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