Trade with Greece
1
H
ad Europe’s governments recognised from early on
the need to alleviate the Greek debt and –above all–
had they taken the proper decisions, the effects of
the crisis would have been drastically reduced. Unfortunately,
it was obvious from the very beginning that they handled the
Greek crisis in a myopic way, putting their domestic political
agendas before the need to find a comprehensive solution.
Today, everyone, not least the International Monetary Fund,
recognise that, despite the harsh measures that have been,
and are still being, imposed on the county, Greece’s debt is
not sustainable. Nonetheless, the leaderships of the euro
zone insist on ignoring reality.
That said, we cannot put the blame for everything on the
lenders. The Greek side also has its own share of errors and
omissions. All these years, Greek governments have focused
on the fiscal side of the programme, insisting on a policy mix
that is based on over-taxation and “easy” across-the-board
expenditure cuts, totally disregarding the structural reform side.
Constantine Michalos,
President of the ACCI,
Vice-President of
Eurochambres
editorial
Greece and the
institutions must
agree on a new
policy mix, in order
to restore growth
Greece was the first country of the euro zone to enter the tripartite
support mechanism and is the only one that still depends on the
assistance of its partners. The blame for this can be put on Greece’s
lenders, as well as on the Greek governments responsible for handling
the negotiations and implementing the adjustment programmes.
