Today, the EU’s financial monitoring of Greece will expire, following the bailouts received by the country between 2010 and 2018.
Reads the pertinent European Commission announcement:
The European Commission will not prolong the enhanced surveillance of Greece once it expires on 20 August … the Commission acknowledges that Greece has delivered on the bulk of the policy commitments made to the Eurogroup upon its exit from the economic adjustment programme in June 2018 … as a result of Greece’s efforts, the resilience of the Greek economy has substantially improved and the risks of spill-over effects on the Euro area economy have diminished significantly. Hence, maintaining Greece under enhanced surveillance is no longer justified.
The EC also emphasized the recent difficulties with which the Balkanic country has contended:
[It] has achieved effective reform implementation, even under the challenging circumstances created by the COVID-19 pandemic and, more recently, by Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine.
For his part, Christos Staikouras, Hellenic Minister of Finance, described the past twelve years as “a difficult chapter for our country” which now “comes to a close.” Greece will enjoy greater freedom in charting its economic policies, as well as greater facility attracting foreign investment.
Perhaps this will further help resolve those difficulties with which the country is still dealing, including high inflation, tax evasion and insolvency among small- and medium-sized businesses.
