Lifting of enhanced EU surveillance measures a vote of confidence in the Greek economy

Photo by Jim Niakaris on Unsplash

Greece has been on a long and arduous journey since the financial crisis to rebuild our prosperity and credibility. The decision by EU leaders last week to lift enhanced surveillance measures on the Greek economy, a legacy of the bailouts, is a key milestone on this journey marking how far we have come since our lowest point. Greece’s story today is one of remarkable transformation. 

The decision taken in Brussels is a massive vote of confidence in the Greek economy and shows the scale of turnaround achieved. As a country, we are embracing the opportunities of the future, such as the green and digital transitions, and the major digitisation drive underway is making the state much more efficient. The sweeping regulatory and tax reforms have created an economic climate in which business can thrive and innovate.

If you look at our key economic metrics, most have improved considerably in recent years, despite the pandemic and the current global economic turbulence. Last year Greece’s economy grew by 8.3% and unemployment has come down to 12.5%, down from 27.5% at the height of the crisis.

At Enterprise Greece we are particularly proud of Greece’s export boom – as of March exports were up 34% on the previous year – as well as the record inflow of foreign investment, which has soared by 72.3%, from €2.8bn in 2020 to €4.8bn in 2021. Greece ranks 1st in Europe in terms of the increase in investment volumes for the three-year period 2021-2023, with Amazon, Cisco, Microsoft, JP Morgan, Volkswagen and Pfizer just some of the major players who have shown confidence in Greece’s turnaround and future prospects.

Our strong prospects are underpinned by a young, educated, dynamic workforce, with many Greeks who travelled abroad to work and study having since returned home. Therefore, unlike many markets where there are huge skills gaps and a lack of resource, Greece’s human capital is primed and available. 

This is not to say the story of transformation is complete, and the global perspective is a challenging one, especially in light of geopolitical events and global headwinds.  Nonetheless, resilience is the best defence against adversity, and our economy is in better shape than it has been for a long time. As such, I am confident that investors will continue to look to Greece and the considerable  opportunities it presents them.