Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 17-06-07

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From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] Tzanakopoulos: Creditors must now take decisions for Greece's economic recovery

[01] Tzanakopoulos: Creditors must now take decisions for Greece's economic recovery

Even though great opportunities were now becoming apparent, Tzanakopoulos said, "too much depends on the decisions to be taken at European level, both to strengthen Greece' growth and find a solution to the Greek debt, which is the main factor of uncertainty, both for financial markets and for other investors."

Noting that Greece has fulfilled its side of the agreements, Tzanakopoulos said the lenders and the institutions now had an obligation to "make the required decisions that will guarantee the return of European normality to our country."

These decisions must lead to a "steady and dynamic recovery of the Greek economy but also enable our immediate return to the financial markets," he added.

According to Tzanakopoulos, there was absolutely no reason to once again "kick the can down the road" and all the conditions for Greece to finally start exiting the crisis were in place. The next Eurogroup should focus exclusively on discussing the issue of Greece's debt and the measures needed to boost growth, he said.

The government is still working toward a comprehensive and clear solution, which should respect three basic principles, the spokesman added.

As Tzanakopoulos explained, these principles are the following:

1. Clear identification of the medium-term measures to be taken for Greek debt after the end of the current programme so that the country's gross financing needs do not exceed 15 pct of GDP in the medium term.

2. These measures should enable all institutions, including the ECB, to draft positive reports on the sustainability of Greek debt.

3. Concrete measures to boost growth, which all institutions and euro-zone member states recognize as necessary.

He also pointed to the figures released by the independent statistical agency ELSTAT a few days ago, noting that these painted a picture markedly different from the disaster scenarios cultivated by main opposition New Democracy and the "systemic media" for the last year and more.

This showed that the Greek economy had actually grown 0.4 pct in first quarter of 2017, while individual indicators showed that the Greek economy was capable of return to stable and sustainable growth. Among these he listed an increase in private consumption, increased retail trade, investments, exports and industrial production.

He also noted a record rise in new hirings, which reached at 15-year high in April, and a net positive balance of new hirings to dismissals in May, as recorded by the Ergani system. The net increase in jobs since 2015, according to the figures, was 220,000 without including the latest Ergani figures, Tzanakopoulos said.

No one claims that the fundamental problems of the Greek economy have been solved, he noted, however, adding that the situation was still fragile.

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