Economy of Greece

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday revised upwards its forecast for the Greek economy this year to 2.6% from its autumn forecast of 1.8% in October 2022, and said the Greek economy was expected to grow by 1.5% in 2024 from 1.4%.

The Bank of Greece has raised its economic growth forecast for Greece this year, according to the central bank's governor, Yannis Stournaras. Presenting the bank's annual report on Friday, Stournaras said that the Greek economy is expected to grow by 2.2% in 2023, and the inflation rate is set to fall to 4.4%, with the state budget expected to record a primary surplus of 0.7%.

The benchmark at the Greek stock market tested the waters around the 1,080-point level and returned below 1,070 points on Tuesday, closing with minimal gains that sufficed to make the session the fifth in a row with growth for the bourse. This was mainly driven by bank stocks, while the majority of the market ended up with losses, albeit minor in most cases.

Energy and bank stocks led the Greek stock market to its fourth consecutive session of price growth on Monday, albeit on a relatively low turnover. The decision by OPEC+ to reduce oil output pushed global rates higher and favored oil company stocks, including those listed in ATHEX.

Greece has entered a virtuous cycle of growth, and the next few years will be especially beneficial to the economy and Greeks if political stability is maintained and business-friendly policies are implemented.

The Greek economy is "in an especially good position," local banks are "extremely well capitalized" and the country's debt will be upgraded to investment grade a few months after the elections.

Intrakat has announced the completion of its acquisition of Aktor SA (a member of the Ellaktor Group) for 100 million euros in cash, while another €114 million regarding Aktor's debt obligations to the Ellaktor Group will be paid gradually under Intrakat's guarantee within 19 months.

The benchmark of the Greek stock market cleared the 1,050-point bar on Friday, but that was not enough to prevent it from ending the month of March with a loss - a first after the rising streak from October to February. While the benchmark recorded a drop of 6.61% for March, it ended the first quarter with an increase of 13.42%.

The Goldman Sachs comment on Wednesday afternoon that the Greek economy will stay strong despite any political turmoil, and even regain investment grade in three weeks' time, helped the Greek stock market secure gains on Wednesday, even if it had struggled to keep pace with the rest of its eurozone peers. Moody's positive outlook of the local credit sector also helped.

The final touches are being added by the heads of the Ellaktor and Intrakat groups to the acquisition agreement of Aktor by the latter.