A new laudatory text about the course of the Greek economy was published, this time from the German newspaper ZEITentitled “The economic situation of Greece: What no one expected”.

As it is characteristically noted, “Greece’s public debt was legendary. Now its economy is growing faster than here. Greece’s national debt was legendary. Now the economy is growing faster there than here,” and the editor wonders, “how can this be?”

“For a number of years, being the Finance Minister of Greece seemed to be the worst government position across Europe: You had to manage billions of debt. In between, you had to beg for a little money from banks and foreign partners so that hospitals and schools could somehow continue to operate while their employees continued to strike for more wages. And on top of that, they could feel the breath of the licentious Germans on their necks“, preface Felix Keßler and Zacharias Zacharakis in their article – published in the print edition and on the website of the newspaper ZEIT – recalling his infamous ultimatum Wolfgang Schäuble “on the 28th at midnight, end”in February 2015.

Then everything seemed to “Greece, this cultural core of Europe, could never stand on its own feet economically”, but today, a decade after the peak of the crisis, the situation is completely different, the columnists comment, citing relevant videos of the Minister of National Economy and Finance Kostis Hatzidakis on TikTok, where, talking about his meetings at the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, he appears “to be in an extremely good mood, to do many shake hands and take even more selfies with his colleagues“, boasting that Washington recognizes the great progress that has been made in Greece’s economy in the last five years. At the same time there is good news:While the economy in Germany is stagnant, growth of more than 2% is expected in Greece. The EU forecasts a budget surplus of 3% of economic output for Greece at the end of this year. Even in 2025, the Greek state will continue to earn more money than it spends, if debt repayment is not taken into account. This is a structural surplus. The opposite of what plagued Greece and what the country was almost famous for».

The situation is so good for Greek households that Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced the early repayment of the public debt with 5 billion euro early next year, the article explains, adding that “Greece seems to have transformed within a decade from Europe’s problem child to a model student». The reduction of undeclared work through the digitization of the payment system – resulting in a significant increase in tax revenues – the development of tourism – which implies the stimulation of other sectors, such as agriculture or the construction industry – and the strengthening of high foreign private investments , are the factors that contributed to this change, the authors note, concluding, however, with a remark by the Professor of Economics of the Kapodistrian University of Athens Dimitris Katsika, that “Greece is overall on the right track economically, but the recovery is not reaching all citizens“, as the improved economic situation and the new credibility in the financial markets attract more investors, especially in the construction sector, resulting in an increase in rents which, combined with inflation in the Eurozone, makes it difficult for citizens, hence the recent general strike that paralyzed the country, while at the same time the ruling party which received about 41% in the 2023 elections, has fallen by ten percentage points in the last polls.

Editors’ Network of Germany (RND): “Should have been paid by 2028 – Athens repays 8 billion early” euro from aid loans from euro partners’

“The Greek government is reducing its debt faster than planned. Greece is still the most over-indebted country in the EU. But not for long“, reports the Editors’ Network of Germany (RND).

In particular, the response from Ger Höhler from Athens refers in detail to the early repayment of the Greek public debt, explaining that with the current payment of almost eight billion 135 million euros are saved from the 2010 rescue package. euros from interest resulting in the reduction of the country’s debt to 154% of GDP by the end of this year.

Under the interim title “Stronger economic growth than in the rest of the EU“, the correspondent refers to the statements of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis – related to the repayment and the good performance of the Greek economy – explaining that “even after Friday’s early repayment, Finance Minister Hatzidakis will have a liquidity reserve of approximately 30 billion. euros”, i.e. “about half of last year’s total tax revenues”, which demonstrates the very state of the country’s economy despite its high debt ratio. The European Commission and the IMF consider that Greece’s public debt is sustainable. The reason lies in the structure of the debt. About three-quarters of the national debt is held by public creditors, such as the European Stability Mechanism (ESM). Interest rates are permanently low and Greece has by far the longest remaining debt maturity of any EU country. Finally, it is underlined that Greece is in a much better position than France and Italy, but also countries such as Belgium and Austria, which will be expected to see their debt ratio, unlike Greece, increase further until 2034. If this course continues, Italy will be the one to succeed Greece in the public debt sector, which now has the recognition of four of the five major rating agencies for its financial stability, while according to its Governor Bank of Greece, Yannis Stournara, in 40 years the country will be able to conquer the target of the upper limit of the national debt ratio (60% of GDP) based on the Stability Pact.