Staikouras outlines five-pronged plan to revamp production model, restart the economy

By George Gilson

With the government struggling to manage the disastrous economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Finance Minister Christos Staikouras presented "five axes" of the government's reform programme during an online Economist Conference entitled «200 Years of Economic Survival», a reference to this year's bicentennial of the start of Greece's War of Independence.

In a schematic presentation that offered few details, Staikouras outline the government's aim of building a new productive model, implementing a balanced fiscal policy, further upgrading the quality of institutions, and shaping an environment of national unity and self-confidence.

The paramount but most intractable problem that the government faces is how to fashion a new production model that can help the floundering Greek economy recover even as the government struggles with propping it up with huge subsidies - an estimated 20bn euros in 2020 - to address the huge economic repercussions of the pandemic, not least of which is galloping unemployment.

The last, best hope for the Greek economy according to most analyst is the disbursal of Athens' share of the EU Pandemic recovery fund, which amounts 32.1bn euros, with a down payment of about four billion euros.

That is contingent upon European Commission approval of the plan submitted by the government.

It provides that all investments and reforms must be completed by the end of 2026, that private funding for strategic investments be maximised, and that investments must be coupled with reforms.

The Economist Conference speech

The five axes of the government's plan in order of importance, as presented by Staikouras at the Economist Conference, are as follows:

Building...