Greece's exit on Saturday from the European Union's so-called enhanced surveillance framework for its economy ends 12 years of pain and allows the country greater freedom in policy making, its prime minister said, Reuters reported. Greece's economic performance and policies have been closely monitored under the framework since 2018 to ensure it implemented reforms promised under three international bailouts - totalling more than 260 billion euros ($261 billion) - from the European Union and the IMF between 2010 and 2015.
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Greek public debt has significantly increased since last year reaching 193 percent of the country's GDP, the Express reported. Inflation for June was 11.6 percent, up from 10.5 percent in May last year. According to data from the Greek Statistical Service (ELSTAT), public debt increased by €13.417 billion (£11.4 bn) between Q1 2021 and Q2 2022. Public debt is now expected to exceed €357 billion (£303 bn). The worrying figure has alerted experts, who have warned that another collapse of the Greek economy could bring the whole eurozone down.
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Greece raised 1.5 billion euros in a 7-year bond re-issue Wednesday, tapping markets days after a sovereign credit rating upgrade, the Associated Press reported. Finance Minister Christos Staikouras said the money was raised with a yield of 2.4% ‒ up from the 2% yield in 2020 when the bond was first issued. The latest auction took place amid “uncertainty and a deterioration of conditions in the global bond market,” the minister said.
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Greece will raise the minimum wage from May 1 for a second time this year, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Wednesday as rising inflation takes a toll on household incomes, Reuters reported. "The global surge in inflation is hitting low incomes. From May 1 the basic wage will rise by 50 euros a month to 713 euros a month," Mitsotakis said in a televised address. The conservative government raised the monthly gross minimum wage by about 2% to 663 euros in January, meaning that with the new increase the minimum wage will go up by 9.7%.
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Public transport largely ground to a halt in the Greek capital on Wednesday and state-run services remained shuttered as workers walked off the job in a 24-hour general strike to protest rising prices, the Associated Press reported. The strike left ferries to and from Greek islands tied up in port, and left Athens without a subway, tram, trolley or suburban railway, while buses were to run for 12 hours from 9 a.m.
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Greece plans to repay more than 7 billion euros in loans from the International Monetary Fund and eurozone partners in the next two months, paying down the rest of the IMF funds it borrowed to prevent bankruptcy during the financial crisis, two officials said, Bloomberg News reported. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Reuters on Thursday the Treasury would repay 1.8 billion euros ($2.03 billion) in IMF loans ahead of schedule, the last batch of a total 28 billion euros the lender provided in two bailouts between 2010 and 2014.
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Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said the Greek economy could grow more than projected next year, saying he was "very bullish" about prospects for the economy and a successful tourism season unless there are further big complications from COVID-19, Reuters reported. Greece's economy attracts particular scrutiny after a decade of financial turmoil which saw the nation of 11 million people almost topple out of the euro zone as recently as 2015.
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Greece’s gross domestic product should return to its pre-pandemic level by the end of next year, according to its final budget for 2022, Bloomberg News reported. That outlook for the economy to shake off the slump in the fourth quarter reflects better-than-expected growth of 6.9% seen for this year, a projection that is still lower than that of the European Commission. For 2022, the forecasts envisage expansion of 4.5%. The country’s improved growth outlook will help reduce a budget deficit and debt burden which remains the highest in Europe, an ongoing scar from its decade-long crisis.
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PricewaterhouseCoopers' Greek affiliate has agreed to pay $14.9 million to settle with Aegean Marine Petroleum Network Inc. shareholders who accused the auditor of failing to catch a $300 million fraud, Reuters reported. If approved by a federal judge in Manhattan, the deal proposed on Tuesday would end a Utah pension fund's claims that the auditor recklessly disregarded red flags when it audited the fuel transport company's financial statements in 2016. PwC Greece did not admit wrongdoing in the settlement.
Former caretaker prime minister Panagiotis Pikrammenos has explained that the administration he was in charge of had prepared plans to shut down Greece’s banking system if elections in 2012 could not produce a government, Ekathimerini.com reported. Two ballots were held in May and June of 2012, with the second one eventually resulting in a three-party government led by New Democracy. “We were on the verge of bankruptcy,” Pikrammenos told Skai in an interview. “If elections [had] failed to yield a clear result, we would [have] shut down the banks.