Fiscal discipline

Prudent fiscal management, to which the finance minister has referred, is the key for the prospects that are opening in 2023, and there is a need for fiscal balance from now on.

In a future characterised by the digital revolution and globalism, Greece’s place and role is to function as a pillar of stability in the broader region.

Paying off of the IMF loan is a strong reminder of the slippery slope to which we must not return, so as not to require new loans and fresh sacrifices.

The cost of borrowing and the tsunami of energy price increases will hit the Greek economy hard without preparations for compensatory measures to help weather the crisis.

The spending package that was announced by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis last week was reminiscent of a bygone era, when governments each autumn had the capacity to distribute money without considering the cost.

Clearly, the government has no choice but to support suffering citizens, but eventually that will be well nigh impossible without the support and solidarity of Greece’s EU partners.

Not only must the economy be stabilised but also it must achieve growth rates that will definitively bring light at the end of the tunnel.

During its four years in power the ruling party created dissatisfaction with the government’s policies in society and a loathing of the government itself.

The government does not have the luxury of choosing. The path it must tread is that of responsibility, as strong as its addiction to populism may be.

EPP's Manfreled Weber leaves open possibility of renegotiation of Greek programme’s primary surplus targets

It would be a potentially fatal error for society to believe that the economy is back on track. In fact, there is a long road ahead.

The government is returning to the policies of civil service hiring and welfare benefits, implemented between 2004 and 2009, with disastrous results.

The situation does not permit much optimism. The structural characteristics of the economy have not improved. Public administration is not trustworthy and the judiciary is dysfunctional.