According to the latest news from WorldWay: The new Greek Finance Minister, Gikas Hardouvelis, who took office on June 9, stated in a speech on June 10 that Greece's economic situation has improved significantly since the coalition government was successfully formed two years ago. He highly praised and expressed gratitude for the achievements of his predecessor, Yannis Stournaras.
Hardouvelis stated that after continuous improvement over the past two years, Greece's economic situation has now gradually stabilized. The country's pillar industries, shipping and tourism, are performing well. However, he pointed out that achievements in these areas alone are far from enough; Greece must reform its consumption-based economic structure and gradually transform into a country with sufficient manufacturing production capacity.
He also pointed out that although previous structural economic reforms and fiscal austerity have indeed brought temporary hardship to the public, everyone will soon be able to enjoy the dividends brought by the gradual economic recovery. In this process, achieving sustained growth in household income is an important breakthrough. In any case, the current fiscal reform process must continue to be adhered to without any wavering.
However, he also expressed concern that Greece's banking sector still faces the massive problem of a high non-performing loan ratio, and the role of the banking sector will be crucial for the full recovery of the country's private economic sector. Previously, Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras stated that Greece has entered the "countdown" phase to end the impact of the economic crisis.
