Bailout

Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi begins his third term this week buoyed by massive fresh financing, but experts say the road out of economic crisis will still be long and arduous.

Sisi won December's presidential election with 89.6 percent of the vote, standing against three unknowns.

On the question of whether Greece is a country that can change, my answer is affirmative. Yes, Greece is a country where reforms can be made that improve the quality of democracy, strengthen the economy and change the lives of Greeks for the better.

It's not the first time we've heard it. But the recent report by ratings agency Moody's cites the problems of Greece's justice system as a reason for not upgrading the country's credit rating.

Greece's bank bailout fund (HFSF) on Wednesday set the price for the sale of its 27% holding in Piraeus Bank at 4 euros per share, valuing the stake at €1.35 billion.

The sale, part of a wider re-privatization of Greek banks bailed out during the debt crisis, attracted strong demand and was more than eight times oversubscribed, a source told Reuters.

The results announced by Piraeus Bank for 2023 and the publication of the business plan for the next three years, which provides for record profits of 1 billion euros per year for the period 2024-2026, are key arguments in favor of the full divestment of the state from the lender where bank bailout fund HFSF controls 27%.

It was decided that the Hellenic Corporation of Assets and Participations (EESYP), widely known as Hyperfund, was to be established in August 2015 as part of the agreement with the country's European lenders for the 86-billion-euro loans of the third bailout agreement.

Shortly before the country was forced to sign its first bailout agreement in 2010 there were proposals for the utilization of the state's real estate by issuing a bond guaranteeing the approximately 72,000 properties managed by the Hellenic Public Properties Company (ETAD) to finance the debt, with talk about the possibility of raising 50 billion euros.

In nine years, when Greece enters 2033, it will be faced with a problem going back to its bailout past: The public debt will suddenly be burdened with an extra 25 billion euros, or 8% of the then GDP, as the interest on loans from 2013, which has been frozen for almost two decades as part of debt relief arrangements with its European lenders, will be added to it.

The Greek worker is the only one in Europe who still has a lower nominal salary compared to 10 years ago. If we compare it with the pre-bailout levels (before 2010), the losses reach 17% without taking into account any damage caused by inflation.

Greece has been taken to the European Court of Justice for the issue of overdue public debts.

After the discipline imposed by the bailouts and enhanced post-bailout supervision, leading to a reduction in the total amount of arrears and the near disappearance of pension arrears, progress has stalled and there has even been an increase in amounts.