BoG Dep. Gov cites risks, necessary reforms needed to keep Greece in growth orbit

Bank of Greece (BoG) Deputy Gov. Christina Papaconstantinou this week referred directly to what she called the risks plaguing the Greek economy and necessary reforms required to maintain growth, in an address to staff-members of Cyprus’ central bank.

Papaconstantinou cited a high public debt as a percentage of GDP as a primary risk, along with a high balance of trade deficit, non-performing loans, high private debt as well as the unemployment rate.

At the same time, the BoG deputy governor cited what she called often “skewed competition” in the goods and services sectors, a still lacking unified cadastre – one of modern Greece’s most glaring deficiencies – the subpar operation of institutions of governance and sluggish effectiveness and performance of the country’s cavernous public sector. Another obstacle, as she said, is the slow rate of judicial adjudication and weaknesses of the country’s education system.

Conversely, the deputy head of Greece’s central bank said the economy has shown a significant resilience, despite consecutive external predicaments of past years, namely, the pandemic, instability in the global banking sector, the war in Ukraine and a resulting energy crisis, all of which formulated an unfavorable economic environment with increased uncertainty.

Returning to Greece specifically, she said the country returned to a strong growth orbit, posting a GDP hike of 8.3 percent in 2021 and 5.9 percent in 2022, higher than the eurozone average, similar to Cyprus.