Economy of Greece

Greece is a developed country, with a high standard of living and "very high" Human Development Index, ranking 22nd in the world in 2010, and 22nd on The Economist's 2005 worldwide quality-of-life index.According to Eurostat data, GDP per inhabitant in purchasing power standards (PPS) stood at 95 per cent of the EU average in 2008.

Greece's main industries are tourism, shipping, industrial products, food and tobacco processing, textiles, chemicals, metal products, mining and petroleum. Greece's GDP growth has also, as an average, since the early 1990s been higher than the EU average. However, the Greek economy also faces significant problems, including rising unemployment levels, an inefficient bureaucracy, tax evasion and corruption.

In 2009, Greece had the EU's second lowest Index of Economic Freedom (after Poland), ranking 81st in the world. The country suffers from high levels of political and economic corruption and low global competitiveness compared to its EU partners.

After 15 consecutive years of economic growth, Greece entered recession in 2009. An indication of the trend of over-lending in recent years is the fact that the ratio of loans to savings exceeded 100% during the first half of the year.

By the end of 2009, the Greek economy (based on data revised on 15 November 2010 in part due to reclassification of expenses) faced the highest budget deficit and government debt to GDP ratios in the EU. The 2009 budget deficit stood at 15.4% of GDP. This, and rising debt levels (127% of GDP in 2009) led to rising borrowing costs, resulting in a severe economic crisis. Greece was accused of trying to cover up the extent of its massive budget deficit in the wake of the global financial crisis.This resulted from the massive revision of the 2009 budget deficit forecast by the new Socialist government elected in October 2009, from "6-8%" (estimated by the previous government) to 12.7% (later revised to 15.4%). The Greek labor force totals 5.05 million, and on average work the second most hours per year among OECD countries, after South Korea.

The Groningen Growth & Development Centre has published a poll revealing that between 1995 and 2005, Greece was the country whose workers worked the most hours/year among European nations; Greeks worked an average of 1,900 hours per year, followed by Spaniards (average of 1,800 hours/year).

As a result of the on-going economic crisis, industrial production in the country went down by 8% between March 2010 and March 2011, while the volume of building activity saw a reduction of 73.1% between January 2010 and January 2011. Additionally, the turnover in retail sales saw a decline of 9% between February 2010 and February 2011.

2010-2011 debt crisis

In the first weeks of 2010, there was renewed anxiety about excessive national debt. Some politicians, notably Angela Merkel, have sought to attribute some of the blame for the crisis to hedge funds and other "speculators" stating that "institutions bailed out with public funds are exploiting the budget crisis in Greece and elsewhere".

On 23 April 2010, the Greek government requested that the EU/IMF bailout package (made of relatively high-interest loans) be activated. The IMF had said it was "prepared to move expeditiously on this request". The initial size of the loan package was €45 billion ($61 billion) and its first installment covered €8.5 billion of Greek bonds that became due for repayment.

On 27 April 2010, the Greek debt rating was decreased to BB+ (a 'junk' status) by Standard & Poor amid fears of default by the Greek government. The yield of the Greek two-year bond reached 15.3% in the secondary market. Standard & Poor's estimates that in the event of default investors would lose 30–50% of their money. Stock markets worldwide and the Euro currency declined in response to this announcement.

On 1 May, a series of austerity measures was proposed. The proposal helped persuade Germany, the last remaining holdout, to sign on to a larger, 110 billion euro EU/IMF loan package over three years for Greece (retaining a relatively high interest of 5% for the main part of the loans, provided by the EU). On 5 May, a national strike was held in opposition to the planned spending cuts and tax increases. Protest on that date was widespread and turned violent in Athens, killing three people.

The November 2010 revisions of 2009 deficit and debt levels made accomplishment of the 2010 targets even harder, and indications signal a recession harsher than originally feared.

Japan, Italy and Belgium's creditors are mainly domestic institutions, but Greece and Portugal have a higher percent of their debt in the hands of foreign creditors, which is seen by certain analysts as more difficult to sustain. Greece, Portugal, and Spain have a 'credibility problem', because they lack the ability to repay adequately due to their low growth rate, high deficit, less FDI, etc.

On a poll published on 18 May 2011, 62% of the people questioned felt that the IMF memorandum that Greece signed in 2010 was a bad decision that hurt the country, while 80% have no faith in the current Minister of Finance, Giorgos Papakonstantinou, to handle the crisis. 75% of those polled gave a negative image of the IMF, and 65% feel it is hurting Greece's economy. 64% felt that the possibility of bankruptcy is likely, and when asked about their fears for the near future, polls showed a fear of: unemployment (97%), poverty (93%) and the closure of businesses (92%).

On 13 June 2011, Standard and Poors lowered the Greek sovereign debt to a CCC rating, the lowest in the world, following the findings of a bilateral EU-IMF audit which called for further austerity measures. After the major political parties failed to reach consensus on the necessary measures to qualify for a further bailout package, and amidst riots and a general strike, Prime Minister George Papandreou proposed a re-shuffled cabinet, and asked for a vote of confidence in the parliament. The crisis sent ripples around the world, with major stock exchanges exhibiting losses.