The London Times columnist, Simon Nixon, makes extensive reference to the “reversal of Greece’s economic fortunes”, as he typically says, through the government’s policies.

In his analysis of Sunday’s elections, he points out that at the heart of the electoral contest is the question of whether Greece will continue on its current course.

“Greece’s recovery from a country on the brink of a dramatic default to a country on the verge of returning to investment grade is one of the most remarkable economic recovery stories of modern times,” he says, adding that “eight years ago , Greece was effectively bankrupt, its banks closed and a newly elected radical left-wing government engaged in reckless bravado with the country’s international lenders amid talks of exiting or expelling it from the Eurozone.”

Nixon argues that “much of the credit for turning around the country’s economic fortunes must go to Kyriakos Mitsotakis, prime minister since 2019.”

He explains that “he was one of the first to recognize, in Greece’s deeply clientelistic political system, that only deep supply-side reforms to improve the country’s competitiveness, reduce bureaucracy and boost productivity could bring it out of the economic quagmire’, but, in his estimation, ‘the impressive record of implementing pro-market reforms could be jeopardized if the elections lead to the return of the left-wing SYRIZA government under former prime minister Alexis Tsipras’. Hence the title of Nixon’s article:

“Greece’s hard work on debt could be undone by a left-wing government.”

He also refers in detail to economic data, such as the increase in investment by 44.2% in real terms since 2019, which, according to him and economic analysts, reflects the confidence of foreign and domestic businesses in the government’s development agenda.

It also notes that GDP growth of 6.4% – more than twice the rate of the Eurozone average – is mainly due to the surge in exports, which rose from 19% of GDP in 2009 to 49% last year.

But debt also fell from 206% of GDP to 171% and is projected to decline by ten percentage points per year for the next three years.

However, as the Times columnist estimates, “Greece was never going to leave the euro, as the cost, especially for the Greeks themselves, would be high, as Alexis Tsipras understood when he finally accepted a memorandum. Instead, the debate has always been only about what reforms Greece should make in exchange for low-interest loans from the rest of the Eurozone.”

Nixon concludes with the assessment that success is not a given, but depends entirely on the continuation of reforms and this, in turn, on the outcome of the election.

Referring to “political scandals” which he claims have cost the ND government’s popularity, he says that SYRIZA and Mr Tsipras present a more moderate image than in the past, but still promise large increases in social spending, the reversal of some labor reforms and a number of nationalizations. “This could lead to a period of uncertainty, delaying any upgrade of the country’s credit rating,” he sums up, adding that Greece’s exit from the crisis ultimately proves that the euro is more resilient than many thought.