Greece Economy: Signs of Upturn
Noriko Watanabe and Kanako Mita
Modern Tokyo Times
The debt crisis that engulfed Greece many years ago witnessed devastation for untold numbers. Accordingly, years of austerity, high unemployment, severe hardship, and political unrest followed.
However, unlike the sluggish Eurozone average growth rate of 0.8% in 2024, the nation of Greece is forecast to grow by 3%.
Reuters reports, “Borrowing costs have plummeted to below those of Italy, and banks bailed out during the crisis are set to be fully privatized for the first time in decades – a move some of the country’s largest investors see as a final sign of normality.”
Ironically, Germany (the European Union powerhouse) is now blighted by sluggish growth. This is a far cry from the period when the debt crisis in Greece threatened economic and political convulsions in the Eurozone.
Greece still needs to diversify its economy to a greater extent. Also, unemployment remains high – even if far lower than when the crisis emerged.
The European Commission said, “Greece’s real GDP is estimated to have grown by 2.2% in 2023, slightly lower than in the Autumn Forecast. Following the strong recovery in 2022, consumption growth decreased substantially but remained one of the main growth drivers last year. Despite tightening financing conditions, investment made a significant contribution, thanks to strong construction activity and the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP). The slower than expected recovery of Greece’s key EU trade partners weighed on export growth, still, net exports had a positive contribution to growth.”
The historic economic depression in Greece resulted in the economy collapsing by a staggering 28%. Accordingly, Greece faced a severe economic meltdown between 2008 and 2016.
This was followed by economic stability in the following four years up to 2020. Hence, the return to economic growth once more is a sign that Greece is entering a new period.
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