What are Greece's future options for growth after latest bailout?

By Rahul Venkit
0 Comment(s)Print E-mail Xinhua, February 22, 2012
Adjust font size:

Another day, another summit to save Greece and preserve the integrity of the eurozone. Euro summits are becoming so routine, the response by stock markets the following day seem muted at best, Tuesday's market movements being no exception.

While the latest international bailout funds of 130 billion euros (170 billion U.S. dollars) mean Greece will narrowly avoid a disorderly default on its debt, many are already wondering how much longer it will be before the Hellenic republic requires more external help.

Through the latest round of marathon talks between eurozone finance ministers in Brussels, little had been done to address two core issues - competitiveness and growth.

To begin work on any of the above factors, trust is key. Sadly for Greek politicians, this has been sorely lacking on multiple fronts with both international creditors and their own people disillusioned by the current state of affairs.

Driving home this point, Greek political leaders were made to hand in written assurances to convince Brussels that Athens would continue to implement -- under EU supervision -- promised economic and structural reforms after scheduled general elections in April.

However, for Greek to successfully reduce its public debt from the current 160 percent of GDP to 120.5 percent by 2020, experts say business as usual is simply not an option.

"The whole Greek state sector needs to be slimmed down because it is a useless drag on the economy," Dr Michael Taylor, senior Eastern Europe analyst at Oxford Analytica, told Xinhua.

Loss-making state enterprises need to be closed down or their operations improved through enhanced productivity or privatization. The Greek tax system, too, is highly unfair and inefficient because it goes after those in regular employment and is easily evaded by the self-employed, many of whom are wealthy professionals, added Taylor.

"The Greek government knows this but seems powerless to stop it," he remarked.

Apart from liberalizing so-called "closed professions" by cutting the red rape involved in doing certain jobs, more focus needs to be placed on Greece's major foreign earner -- tourism. In this industry, Greece can give its neighbors such as Turkey and Croatia a run for its money in the high-end, upmarket sector.

Other possible growth areas are energy production and out-of-season agriculture, taking advantage of long hours of sunlight for solar power and growing high-value fruit and vegetables for customers in northern Europe, Taylor said.

In the longer term, Greek tertiary education should be reformed to eradicate corruption and the concept of the "eternal student". To gain competitiveness, universities must be reoriented to improve the country's human capital.

While Greece -- currently in its fifth year of recession -- may be emblematic of the eurozone's troubles, several countries remain at risk of contagion.

Portugal and Ireland, which have also received international rescue packages, will be closely monitoring the situation as they hope to return to markets in 2013 to raise capital.

Spain and Italy are out of the danger zone in bond markets for now, but "we must remember that this is largely due to the European Central Bank's (ECB) intervention in December 2011, when it injected 489 billion euros into the euro-area banking system," said Dr Stephanie Hare, senior analyst at Oxford Analytica.

While there is currently calm on the markets with the ECB slated to inject a second large sum at the end of February, it is not a solution to the fundamental problems plaguing the eurozone's banking system, trade imbalances and structural problems of its weaker member states.

"Tuesday's bailout agreement may have bought EU leaders some time, but that's all it bought," Hare added.

Print E-mail Bookmark and Share

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)

No comments.

Add your comments...

  • User Name Required
  • Your Comment
  • Racist, abusive and off-topic comments may be removed by the moderator.
Send your storiesGet more from China.org.cnMobileRSSNewsletter
主站蜘蛛池模板: 曰韩无码二三区中文字幕| 男朋友想吻我腿中间的部位| 欧美BBBWBBWBBWBBW| 国产igao视频网在线观看hd| 99久热只有精品视频免费观看17| 日韩在线一区二区三区免费视频 | 可知子与野鸟君日文| 7777精品久久久大香线蕉| 日产精品一致六区搬运| 亚洲欧美日韩一区| 色偷偷91综合久久噜噜app| 国产精品美女www爽爽爽视频 | 97色伦图片7778久久| 无码一区二区波多野结衣播放搜索| 亚洲熟女少妇一区二区| 福利一区二区三区视频午夜观看| 国产女人嗷嗷叫| 99热这里有精品| 好看的中文字幕在线| 中文午夜人妻无码看片| 林俊逸高圆圆第1190章| 伊人久久久大香线蕉综合直播| 马浩宁高考考了多少分| 国内一级野外a一级毛片| 中文字幕丝袜制服| 果冻传媒mv在线观看入口免费| 亚洲欧洲精品久久| 精品国产自在在线在线观看| 国产成人精品一区二区三区| 99国产精品国产精品九九| 小蝌蚪视频在线免费观看| 久久精品国产清自在天天线| 欧美黑人换爱交换乱理伦片| 人人澡人人澡人人看添av| 色老头老太xxxxbbbb| 国产精品大尺度尺度视频| 一区二区三区四区电影视频在线观看| 日韩大片观看网址| 亚洲欧美乱日韩乱国产| 波多野结衣中文字幕一区二区三区| 国产AV国片精品一区二区|