2024-09-25 05:38:14
“Greece aims to cut around 20 percentage points from its debt in just four years, in yet another milestone in its escape from a decade-long crisis, National Economy and Finance Minister Kostis Hatzidakis said.
In an interview with the Bloomberg news agency, Mr. Hatzidakis predicted that government borrowing would shrink in “close to 130%” of GDP until the end of 2028bolstered by an economy that has outperformed peers.
“This is a really significant reduction,” said the Minister of National Economy and Finance.
THE debt index of Greece it peaked at 207% in 2020 and is already forecast by the government to shrink to 152.7% this year. A reduction in the amount that, as Mr. Hatzidakis predicts, raises the imminent prospect of a smaller pile of loans from Italy, unless the trajectory of that country’s public financing changes drastically.
Furthermore, Kostis Hatzidakis now calculates that the primary surplus of the country’s budget – the measure of revenue minus expenditure, excluding interest – it will be at 2.4% of GDP this year instead of the initial estimate of 2.1%. This gives the government room to increase spending.
“Thanks to a better-than-expected budget performance, we can have a larger increase in spending compared to initial estimates,” the Finance Minister said.
Greece will be able to increase its net spending by “slightly higher than 3%” in 2025 — against an initial forecast of 3% — while it could continue to grow by an average of that last amount until the end of 2028, he noted. himself.
The government is also moving ahead with an early repayment of bailout credit worth a total of 8 billion euros ($8.9 billion), covering loan repayments from 2026 to 2028. This will be the third time it has accelerated the repayment of aid it received in first rescue program in 2010, known as the Greek Loan Facility.
“All these decisions underline the strength of the economy and the determination of the government to continue on a path of fiscal prudence,” said Mr. Hatzidakis.
“This message is fully understood by rating agencies, various international organizations and investors abroad,” he added.