Greek FinMin plays up country’s econ potential on sidelines of IMF-WB meetings in D.C.

Greek Finance Minister Christos Staikouras on Thursday briefed representatives of several international banking groups and ratings agencies over the country’s economic prospects, as he said, even in the face on ongoing turmoil emanating from the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the accompanying energy crisis and wave of inflation.

According to a press release, representatives of Bank of America, Citi, Commerzbank, Credit Suisse International, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, Moody’s, Nomura, Société Générale attended the briefing, held on the sidelines of the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank in Washington D.C.

Staikouras pointed to a record-breaking year in 2021 for Greek exports, now comprising 40 percent of GDP, significantly higher than in 2010, while exports over the first seven months of 2022 have already reached 75 percent of 2021’s overall figure.

In attempting to paint an even brighter picture of the Greek economy and its prosects – after a full decade that witnessed an economic meltdown and three successful bailouts – Staikouras said 2021 also witnessed a 20-year record in terms of FDIs, with the first half of 2022 nearly reaching 80 percent of last year’s figure.

Another “highlight” that the Greek minister pointed to is a dropping unemployment rate, the lowest since 2010, and the shrinkage of NPLs, which fell to 10 percent of banks’ portfolios in June – on the back of hefty provisions taking “bad debt” off annual results.

Staikouras added that bank deposits have increased by 46 billion euros since June 2019, a month before center-right New Democracy won a general election and formed the current government.

Finally, Staikouras cited a forecast of a primary deficit falling to 1.7 percent of GDP for the current year, while public debt is forecast to fall by 24 basis points.