Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Bank of Greece Governor George Provopoulos presented yesterday his Annual Report on the Greek Economy at the 80th Annual Meeting of the bank’s shareholders. In his speech, Provopoulos noted that "as long as the prospect of an exit from the crisis is not clearly in sight, the continuing recession creates an unfavourable climate and fuels social tensions. Nevertheless, we are now at a turning point.
There is no doubt that 2013 will be a difficult year, mainly due to continuing recession and high unemployment. But we can expect recessionary forces to weaken gradually and the Greek economy to return to positive growth rates in the course of 2014."
Positive effects, according to Provopoulos, are expected from a boost to liquidity and confidence as a result of the recapitalisation of banks and the return of deposits; a further improvement in cost competitiveness; progress in the deregulation of markets; the restarting of major infrastructure projects such as highways; the implementation of private investment projects, and the planned repayment of public sector arrears.
Bank of Greece: Annual Report Full Text (in Greek)
