The political crisis in France highlights it success story of Greece and the value of stable reforms, as stated, among other things, in today’s opinion article by Financial Timesby columnist Chris Giles.

Based on an information note from the Ministry of National Economy and Finance, the newspaper points out that the decline in Greece’s borrowing costs to the levels of France shows the value of stable reforms in the “periphery” of the Eurozone.

According to the publication, “when Greece’s borrowing costs fell below France’s last month, attention turned to political turmoil. Without a doubt, the fall of the French government after its failed attempt to pass a budget shows dysfunction in Paris. But the real story lies elsewhere and it is none other than the astonishing success of the countries we derogatorily called the “periphery” of the Eurozone a decade after the debt crisis.

It is added, isn’t it, how? “the success story of Greece defies the doomsayers and the Cassandras of 2015, the year Greece briefly flirted with exiting the euro with a government of the populist Left of SYRIZA. Instead of suffering in “debt prison”, condemned to permanent austerity and poverty, as predicted in 2015 by the then finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis, the Greek economy not only managed to grow faster than the Eurozone average but also achieved the primary budget surpluses demanded by its creditors in bailouts.

Just last month, the Greek government repaid part of the loans from the original 2010 bailout, as investment grade allowed it to borrow more cheaply in the markets.

From the eve of the pandemic crisis in 2019 to 2024, data from the International Monetary Fund show that per capita GDP rose over 11% in Greece, around 7% in Italy and her Portugal and almost 4% in Spain. France shows growth below 2% and in Germany it is negative”is emphasized.

“As we look to the second half of the 2020s, the lesson taught by the crisis a decade ago is the value of solidarity in Europe, which enables countries to put public debt on a sustainable path by supporting the fiscally stronger states .

The hard-won successes of economic reforms since then tend to go somewhat unnoticed. Today, however, there is no doubt in the “periphery” of Europe and it is time to France and the Germany to implement the treatment recommended a decade ago»the article concludes.