The high cost to Greece of the economic crisis—and particularly the policy choices that followed—were the focus of Kyriakos Pierrakakis’s interview with the French magazine L’Express. The Minister of National Economy and Finance spoke of a decade that left its mark on the country, noting that the 25% loss in GDP was comparable to that suffered by the United States during the Great Depression.
Referring to the period of the memoranda, he noted that the legacy of those years is complex, arguing that certain decisions could have been made differently, such as faster debt restructuring.
However, he placed particular emphasis on the lessons learned by both Greece and Europe, pointing out that without the Greek crisis, important European crisis-response mechanisms—such as those utilized during the pandemic—would not have been created.
He made special mention of the 2015 referendum, describing it as a failure and emphasizing that “we paid a very high price for populism.” As he noted, Greece required three financial assistance programs, unlike other Eurozone countries that emerged from the crisis with just one program—a fact which, in his view, demonstrates the misguided policy decisions of that period.
The Eurogroup president argued that the picture of the Greek economy today is completely different. He cited the creation of more than 500,000 new jobs since 2019, the significant decline in unemployment, and the forecast for growth higher than the Eurozone average in the coming years. At the same time, he emphasized that public debt is on a steady downward trajectory, from levels above 200% of GDP in 2020 to below 140% this year, with the goal of bringing it below 120% by 2029.
Mr. Pierrakakis attributed this progress to political and fiscal stability, as well as to the continued promotion of reforms. He made special mention of the digital transformation of the public sector through the gov.gr platform, as well as to the digitization of the tax administration, which, he argued, has contributed significantly to curbing tax evasion and creating fiscal space to reduce dozens of taxes and levies.
At the European level, the Greek minister emphasized the need to create stronger banks and larger European companies so that the European Union can compete more effectively on the global stage.
He also expressed his willingness to contribute, in his capacity as Eurogroup President, to advancing common European priorities, such as the Savings and Investment Union and the digital euro, emphasizing that Europe is now called upon to shape the world of the future rather than manage that of the past.