The high cost that the period of the economic crisis had for Greece, and especially the political choices that followed, were at the center of Kyriakos Pierrakakis' interview with the French magazine L' Express. The Minister of National Economy and Finance spoke of a decade that marked the country, noting that the loss of 25% of 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 taken differently, such as faster debt restructuring.
However, he placed particular emphasis on the lessons that emerged both for Greece and for Europe, noting that without the Greek crisis, important European crisis-response mechanisms would not have been created, such as those that were used during the pandemic period.
He made particular reference to the 2015 referendum, describing it as unsuccessful and stressing that “we paid very dearly for populism.” As he said, Greece needed three financial support programs, unlike other Eurozone countries that emerged from the crisis with only one program, a fact which, in his assessment, demonstrates the mistaken policy handling of that period.
The president of the Eurogroup 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 stressed that public debt is following a steady downward path, from levels above 200% of GDP in 2020 to a rate below 140% this year, with the aim of falling below 120% by 2029.
Mr. Pierrakakis attributed this course to political and fiscal stability, but also to the continuous promotion of reforms. He made special mention of the digital transformation of the public sector through the gov.gr platform, as well as the digitization of the tax administration, which, as he argued, contributed significantly to curbing tax evasion and creating fiscal space for the reduction of dozens of taxes and charges.
At the European level, the Greek minister underlined the need to create stronger banks and larger European businesses, so that the European Union can compete more effectively at the global level.
He also expressed his willingness to contribute, from his position as president of the Eurogroup, to the promotion of common European priorities, such as the Savings and Investments Union and the digital euro, stressing that Europe is now called upon to shape the world of the future and not to manage that of the past.