Greece has slipped from the 57th to the 58th place among a total of 63 countries analysed in the IMD World Competitiveness Rankings, placing it behind Jordan, Peru, and Colombia.
Equally disappointing, despite slight improvements, are the country’s indices in economic efficiency (60th out of 63 countries, rising one place from 61st place) and government efficiency (60th from 61st).
Greece rose by one place (58th in the report issued in 2019 compared to 59th the previous year.
More ominously, there was a drop from the 40th to 41st place in the infrastructure category (public investment has plunged).
This horrible performance reconfirms that there are serious problems with Greece’s productive model and that growth will be impossible without adhering to timely and deep reforms.
That must be the country’s basic objective. One must not lose sight of that or aim or be dragged along by fleeting illusions about the Greek economy having turned a page.
One also must not lose sight of that if one wishes to put an end to the crisis that has bedeviled the economy and society over the last decade and prevent it from becoming permanent.
Greece has enormous capabilities. Unfortunately they are not being exploited and the results are tragic, as evidenced in the brain drain and the shrinking of the population.
These two socio-political time bombs will not be defused if the country remains stuck in the mentalities and practices that have kept it down and trapped.
That is something that must be acknowledged and remedied by entire political system and not just the government.
