ATHENS, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- Consumers in Greece who reduce their electricity consumption from Oct.1 will be rewarded with larger subsidies towards their bills, officials announced in Athens on Wednesday. Energy Minister Kostas Skrekas said that in a bid to provide incentives for energy saving, Greece will continue supporting all households and businesses through the energy crisis, with subsidies for electricity covering 70-100 percent of extra costs. Regarding consumption of natural gas, the subsidy will cover 50 percent of rate increases regardless of consumption levels. Finance Minister Christos Staikouras told the Greek parliament on Wednesday that the state has now allocated 12.4 billion euros (12.28 billion U.S. dollars) to tackle the energy crisis up from 8.5 billion euros initially estimated this June. Staikouras revealed this information during a discussion on an amendment that sets the subsidy for heating oil for households at 0.20 euros per liter, before VAT, for the coming months. (1 euro= 0.99 U.S. dollars)
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