Memorandum that was signed by the Greek
government in July 2015 will set into motion an
unprecedented sequence of very positive
developments for both the economy and the
banking system. Uncertainty will be lifted, and
Greek bonds will once again be acceptable by
the ECB as collateral for the provision of liq-
uidity to Greek banks and, through them, to the
real economy.
In contrast, there are also a large number of pes-
simists. These are those who believe that the
Athens Stock Exchange is indeed a wound-up
spring, albeit its coils are defective and its release
will cause only sorrow.
Fears and expectations
Pessimists always —and with good cause—
begin their analysis by pointing to the heavy,
painful, counterproductive, anti-growth, and —
sadly— consistently ineffective over-taxation of all
kinds of economic activity, a policy chosen by
Greek governments, and especially the current
one, for covering the state’s deficits.
“The coils of the spring are worn out” they claim,
as the businesses that are still in operation are
compelled to hide their profits, transfer their avail-
able funds to foreign banks, and bring their
investment activity down to the bare essentials.
“Even utility share prices have no potential for
increased returns in Greece, despite their monop-
olistic or oligopolistic character” says an experi-
enced American analyst of European shares. And
he explains his view by pointing out that these
state-controlled enterprises make no effort to
Trade with Greece
70
”
“
The Athens Exchange is
currently the only one that,
despite having been relegated
to “emerging” market status,
continues to enjoy many
“mature” market privileges,
the most important being the
euro, a strong, stable and
universally acceptable
currency.
