2016 will be a milestone for the Greek economy, Chouliarakis says

ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ

PM Mitsotakis: Our economy must continue to outpace EU’s, in order to raise Greek incomes

Greece ‘European economy’s pleasant surprise,’ FinMin says after IMF meetings in Washington

Standard & Poor’s upgrades Greek economy outlook to ‘positive’ from ‘stable’, Hatzidakis statements

2016 will be a milestone for the Greek economy as suffocating austerity measures will be lifted and a sustainable recovery will begin, Alternate Finance Minister George Chouliarakis on Sunday said in an interview with “To Vima” newspaper.

According to Chouliarakis, the recovery is expected in summer after liquidity has returned to normal levels and confidence has been restored and these will result from the lifting of capital controls – at the end of the first half – and the management of the public debt.

The programme for the exit of the economy from the crisis will be implemented step by step, he said, starting with the tough round of negotiations on the social security reforms and savings of 1.8 billion euros from the system.

The social security reforms and the fulfillment of the budgetary targets, without new measures, “are prior actions for the conclusion of the evaluation”, which will be accompanied by lower borrowing costs of the banks, the disbursement of 2 billion euros and the beginning of the debate on debt restructuring.

Asked on the medium-term fiscal policy framework 2017-2020, he replied that the intention of the government is to link a balanced budget with the economic recovery, in a socially fair way that will redistribute the adaptation cost and the benefits of the upcoming recovery in favor of the socially vulnerable. “This is a great challenge for a left government amid a crisis,” he added.