HIGHLIGHT

 











Message from Mr. Yannis Papathanasiou
Minister of Economy and Finance

Today humankind faces the greatest economic crisis of the last 80 years. This crisis is unprecedented in terms of its duration and intensity, affecting all of the world’s economies. The impact of the financial turbulence is now being felt  in real economy. Consumption and investment wanes, unemployment rises, while most countries experience new or  intensified budgetary problems. Under these circumstances, the international organisations constantly revise their predictions concerning the progress of world economy to the gloomier, leading  administrations to make corresponding adjustments to their policies aimed at addressing the crisis. 

Greece has so far proven resilient to the international crisis, with respect to growth. It is telling that Greece’s annual growth rate in the last trimester of 2008 was 2.4%, while in the Eurozone it was a negative -1.3%. This is due to the dynamics developed in recent years, as a result of a series of important reforms and the significant fiscal consolidation that were carried out. Reinforcing these dynamics -together with fiscal consolidation which is also a priority- is a basic strategic choice for the government, so that it may ensure the best possible terms for Greece’s borrowing from the international markets.
 
In this context the government is implementing a structured plan for dealing with the effects of the international crisis, to minimise its impact on Greek economy and society, so that the Greek economy will be able to make the best of the opportunities that will arise during the period of the global economy’s recovery. 

The basic goals of this plan are three:

• Support of growth. In this context, our central priority is enhancing financial liquidity, with the efficient implementation of the relevant scheme, worth 28 billion Euros. At the same time we offer support to the financial sectors that are being affected the most by the consequences of the crisis, like small and medium-sized enterprises and tourism. In the short term, a series of policies already underway will help sustain the growth dynamics of the Greek economy. Among these is the acceleration of the realisation of the National Strategic Reference Framework 2007 – 2013, through which approximately 40 billion Euros, originating from EU, national and private resources, will be invested. The commencement of new actions, worth 1.3 billion Euros, of the Operational Programme ‘Entrepreneurship/Competitiveness’ is already moving rapidly; these actions are intended to support business plans in several sectors and branches of the economy. The investment climate in Greece is further strengthened by policies like the implementation of Public-Private Partnerships, through which investments amounting to a total of 5.7 billion Euros have already been secured; within 2009 it is expected that there will be invitations for expression of interest for projects with an overall budget of 500 to 5 billion Euros. Important opportunities are also created through the continued implementation of the new Investment Law, which contains improved regulations and provides for subsidies to private investments up to 60%.  Furthermore, great opportunities are created by the sustained implementation of the new Investment Law, which provides strong incentives and large subsidisation percentages of up to 60% for private investments. Already, within the context of the Investments Law, 5,170 programmes have been approved, with a value of 9.8 billion Euro. At the same time, the government continues its program of structural reforms in order to reinforce competitiveness and to further improve the business and investment climate in the country.
• Fiscal restraint and the reduction of deficits. Special consideration is being given to the drastic curtailing of public expenditure. For this reason, a series of measures have already been announced, aimed at curbing primary expenditure throughout the ambit of the bodies and institutions of the general government. At the same time, we are promoting various actions for dealing more effectively with tax evasion by escalating audits and conducting extensive data cross-checking.
• Boosting employment and protecting the financially weaker citizens. In this context we are promoting actions to support the unemployed and low-income pensioners. We also implement Proactive Employment Policies and promote actions in support of the unemployed, seeking to re-integrate them into the labour market.

The Greek Government is determined to pursue the balanced and rigorous fulfilment of the three abovementioned goals, adopting the appropriate measures and readjusting its policies to the ever-changing realities of the international environment. The government possesses the plan and, more importantly, the political will to ensure that, by the end of this crisis, the Greek economy will continue to grow at higher rates, resting on healthier foundations.