Athens.- A new round of stability, at least for the next two years, opens with the imminent completion of the second review of the Greek program, in order to create a broader consensus on which the strategy for restarting the economy and development for Greece will be drawn, Deputy Minister of Economy and Development, Stergios Pitsiorlas, said at a speech at the General Assembly of the Exporters Association of Northern Greece (SEVE), in Thessaloniki.

He said that on 15 June an overall solution would be reached, which -as he said- has been discounted by the market, with the next step being to enter ECB’s quantitative easing program with a beneficial effect on the overall climate. He reiterated that the country must conclude a “minimum agreement” to redesign the country’s economic growth model.

“After conclusion of the review, there will be a lot of changes in the functioning of the government,” he said, explaining that the circle of difficult measures was now closing”liberating the political system”. He pointed out that if Greece did not make the necessary change of production model “it will be late for the real economy to produce tangible results for citizens”.

The Director-General of the Foundation for Economic and Industrial Research (IOBE), Professor Nikos Vettas, noted that in the years of the crisis “we felt easier to diminish our economy, go to a recession rather than change it.” He added that “if we do not change, we will stay with this (current) income in the pocket” because “this corresponds to what we produce” and to change “we have to attract investments at a time when there is huge liquidity internationally, and put into production again one million unemployed people”. Mr Vettas stressed that new capital and investments are needed to change the economy, because in the past years we have experienced “an inconceivably large disinvestment”. According to Mr. Vettas, in 2016, public and private investment reached just 20 billion euros, from 65.5 billion in 2007.

Nikos Mariou, General Manager of Sidenor Group, noted that “in today’s conjuncture, where we have nothing to share in capital gains or positions in the public sector, let us agree on a minimum program for industry, at least to reduce the risk of political change “. As he said, “If the situation is not good, at least make it predictable.”