Economy of Greece

Investor concern about a shift in local politics that may increase the election risk for the government, due to the railway tragedy at Tempe, led on Monday to the biggest daily decline in seven months for the main index at Athinon Avenue. Led by banks, Greek stocks lost a significant portion of their recent gains, as the impact of the train crash does not appear to be going away anytime soon.

The Greek stock market came off Wednesday's 101-month high to see its benchmark post a notable decline that was eventually smaller than its mid-session losses on Thursday. A late stop-loss reaction that culminated during the closing auctions arrested the decline of the main index, but losing stocks outnumbered the gainers by three to one.

Alternate Finance Minister Thodoros Skylakakis referred to the bright prospects of the Greek economy at an event for the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, Greece 2.0, held in Kozani: "In the coming years, Greece - and Western Macedonia - is sure to experience an economic and investment boom, as long as the current policy of reforms and fiscal stability continues," he pointed out.

The US Fed and European Central Bank rate hikes went largely according to expectations, so eurozone stock markets, including Greece's, proceeded smoothly on Thursday with sessions of mild gains.

January ended at the Greek stock market with 10.01% growth for the main index, after it suffered a minor decline on Tuesday in a mixed session. While some fellow eurozone bourses took heavier losses on the day, Athinon Avenue saw its expected profit-taking to be small and targeted, while banks enjoyed another day of price gains.

Aegean Airlines is expanding its network of destinations and further strengthening its activity in the Israeli market by adding three new direct scheduled routes from Ioannina, Hania and Kalamata to Ben Gurion Airport and Tel Aviv, while increasing its flights from Athens and Thessaloniki.

Greek tourism authorities and businesses are expressing reserved optimism regarding the sector's course in 2023.

This optimism is based both on the first indications from bookings for this season and the number of seats to Greece planned by the airline companies.

Athinon Avenue saw its benchmark temporarily rise above the 1,000-point mark, but it eventually had to settle for small losses as the recent rise to an eight-year high has not had its fair share of profit-taking yet.

The benchmark of the Greek stock market took another leap on Monday to get closer to the psychologically significant 1,000-point mark, as bank stocks led the bourse index to a new eight-year high. This first testing of the waters around 1,000 points showed the milestone may prove easier to attain than the previous one - i.e.

Greece has significant growth potential in various sectors. Tourism, telecommunications, health, energy and education are some of those of greatest interest. But they are not the only ones.