In a turbulent international environment, where geopolitical instability has become the normality and political instability has also increased ahead of the elections in many countries, “Greece is one of the few sources of good news,” Minister of National Economy and Finance Kostis Hatzidakis said during his speech at the Economist conference “The World Ahead 2024,” where he presented Greece’s economic policy for 2024.
Greece has the third highest growth rate in the Eurozone, its unemployment rate has dropped to single-digit figures, along with a significant growth of Foreign Direct Investment and exports and the fastest reduction in public debt as a percentage of GDP in the history of the eurozone while it has also recovered an investment-grade rating after 10 years.
“Our policy,” Hatzidakis noted, is centred around three key focus areas: a responsible fiscal policy, pro-growth reforms and an effective and fair social policy. “This is how we will continue in 2024,” he pointed out.
On the first key focus area, the minister stated that the new budget sees a primary surplus of 2.1% of GDP, while for 2023 it is expected to ultimately exceed the 1.1% of GDP target. Public debt is expected to further decrease by 8 percentage points, also within the new economic governance framework. “Not because we have to, but because we want to,” he said.
On the second key focus area, as Hatzidakis said, investments in 2024 are envisaged to increase by 15.1% with the “help” of the Recovery Fund.
On the third key focus area, the minister said that the increase in the disposable income of citizens will continue, always based on a serious fiscal policy, referring to the increases in funds for education and health, support measures for young families, etc.
Concluding, the minister said that a “revolution of common sense” is taking place in Greece. We can, he added, “safely say that we have left the worst behind. And the economy will move in a new direction of sustainable and unrestricted growth.”
