";s:4:"text";s:3923:" The bailout - the term given to emergency loans aimed at saving the sinking Greek economy - began in 2010, when eurozone states and the IMF came together to provide a first tranche of €20bn. In addition to the €230 billion in potential losses on government debt, which by itself might have been enough to wipe out the capital of many large European banks, foreigners had another €120 billion in exposure to Greek banks. This caused thousands of companies to either close up shop or transfer their operations to bases that were less tax-intensive, further weakening the economy. On 20 August, the Greek government is scheduled to exit its IMF bailout programme, ending a series of three programmes that have run continuously since 2010. That option was blocked, however, by a coalition of Greece’s “European partners” and the U.S. The country has one of the highest shares of small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) in the European Union. Lower long-term interest rates would mean higher growth. The IMF, the ECB and the European Commission announced a three-year aid package, designed to rescue Greece. .css-14iz86j-BoldText{font-weight:bold;}Greece has emerged from controversial bailout programmes that came with years of austerity - here's a very quick guide on why this happened.
Greek residents spent far more than they earned, with the result that the current-account deficit ballooned from about 5% of gross domestic product in 1999 to 10% by 2006 and to 14% by 2008. The most insightful comments on all subjects will be published daily in dedicated articles.
Greeks can finally wave goodbye to the foreign financial institutions that have in effect been running the country for eight years. It is a tale of incompetence, of dogma, of needless delay and of the interests of banks being put before the needs of people. And there will be long-term consequences. Greece is finally done with its epic bailout binge.
"Productivity [of very small companies] is only around 50 percent of the EU average, while participation in international value chains also remains low," Bitsios says.
Where once politics was preferred to global market forces, it now stands in the way of Greek economic recovery. After the crisis, however, foreign investors pulled back, hitting both the Greek government and Greece’s banks. Restructuring the government’s debt would therefore have required either the partial liquidation of the Greek banking system or an explicit bailout of Greece’s banks paid by someone else. Nothing could be further from the truth. The idea was that Greece would be more sheltered if its debt were held by political actors instead of faceless and non-accountable financial market actors. Mortgage debt increased by a factor of seven. The first bailout came in 2010. We are not able to influence its course.
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In fact, it has been the weakest recovery from any recession since the second world war.
Video. Services such as tourism and shipping have, to a large extent, alleviated the massive deficit in the trade of goods.
Our journalists will try to respond by joining the threads when they can to create a true meeting of independent Premium. How bad are things for the people of Greece?
People's despair turned into riots on the streets, as they suffered spending cuts, high taxes and repeatedly slashed salaries and pensions.