Greek Economy

Tax breaks bolster the need for consumption which is necessary in order to restart the economy.

International media such as Bloomberg correctly note that normalcy is returning to our country and that the change of government contributed greatly to improving the climate.

It requires incentives to lure back the many Greek businesses that were forced to move to neighbouring countries to find a better tax environment.

In the eyes of many, the 7 July parliamentary elections signal not only a handover of governmental power, but also a return to normalcy.

The state takes 40 percent in taxes and insurances contributions from the income of taxpayers who declare 20,000 euros in earnings annually.

Political parties have a duty to leave the central banker’s observations out of their political game and not to target them as being the product of ulterior motives.

After defeating SYRIZA by nearly ten percentage points in the 26 May European Parliament election, Mitsotakis hopes to ride the wave of what George H.W. Bush had famously called “the big mo”, political momentum.

In Greece, the PM and his government are opening a budget gap of billions of euros with measures they announced a few weeks before the election.

Specifically, the report underlines that the measures announced by the PM jeopardise primary surplus targets for 2019 and subsequent years.

The government’s basic argument that after the completion of the third bailout programme the economy would turn a page has been belied by events.

'The chances of the climate changing until then are minimal. The opinion polls point to a clear victory for opposition leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis,' the report concluded.

The entire economy has fallen victim to over-taxation, for which the government opted so to collect funds for electoral handouts at the end of its term.

There are serious problems with Greece’s productive model and growth will be impossible without adhering to timely and deep reforms.

The queues of pensioners at ATMs the day the first pension bonus was disbursed demonstrated how much retirees need that money to cover their living needs.

If one factors in the number of impoverished workers and the army of unemployed one realises how unrealistic governmental pronouncements are regarding Greece supposedly having exited the crisis.

The observation of the Hellenic Federation of Enterprises [SEV] that the longer the pre-election period the greater the danger of a transient recession is noteworthy.  

The government must act poste haste and implement all the reforms that are required in order to shield an economy that is hanging by a thread.

The Bank of Greece rang the alarm bells over the danger of fiscal derailment due to Greece’s Council of State rulings which deemed unconstitutional earlier pension cuts and the abolition of holiday bonuses.

Many households live in conditions of poverty and in the last four years the aggregate income of all Greek taxpayers was reduced by 2.4bn euros.

The IMF is also demanding an emergency plan to confront the prospect of thousands of court decisions ordering the reversal of memorandum-era cutbacks.

The Eurogroup’s decision can only have a negative impact on markets at a time when the country is testing its endurance in borrowing from them.

Since its days in the opposition, SYRIZA confronted the economy with the sole objective of reaping partisan benefits.

There is a double minefield on Greece’s path. The economy remains shackled by austerity policies and the danger of fiscal derailment is ever-present.

In an exclusive interview with To Vima, the Harvard economics professor and former IMF chief economist discusses Greece’s growth prospects.

The Finance Minister said the estimated cost of New Democracy’s announcements so far is 5bn euros in the first year and another 4bn over the next four years and that ND has not said where the money will come from.

The country is at risk of not receiving the profits – amounting to approximately one billion euros - on Greek bonds held by the European Central Bank.

With the populist rhetoric that guided its thoughts and actions, the government engaged in a number of such clashes with reality, and reality won.

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

Creditors also bear responsibility as they turned a blind eye to the debt problem and believed that austerity could remedy the ills of a country with the peculiarities of Greece.

Investment remains stuck at its lowest level and the economy is not taking off. It is unable to transcend the cycle and culture of pervasive pessimism, as if something is binding and immobilising it.

In order to persuade citizens that the realities are different from what they are experiencing, the government is handing out benefits and promises.

How will the labour market absorb the wage hike? One would hope it will not be by reducing the number of jobs.

Within the next 30 days Greece’s creditors or “institutions”, which are currently in Athens to conduct an evaluation, expect the government to have met 16 prior commitments.

Access to the markets is not prohibitive for normal economies. No normal economy has been saddled with the straight-jacket of huge primary surpluses.

Economic analysts and major financial players are underlining that political uncertainty can have an exceptionally negative impact on the course of the economy.

The report noted that the ratification vote on the Greece-FYROM Prespa naming agreement is what triggered the ruling coalition’s breakup.