The Fort Worth Press - 'What I promised': Greek PM touts economy in re-election bid

"What we want from the government is, let us do our jobs, leave us alone," says Demitris Memos, whose platform was recently acquired by the prominent analytics provider Kpler.

But he acknowledges that the conservative government of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis "has tried to simplify our lives", whether through digitisation of the economy, less bureaucracy or the creation of a one-year visa for so-called digital nomads.

Economic growth in a country that only emerged from a near-decade-long debt crisis in 2018 is a strong point for Mitsotakis, who is seeking another four-year term in Sunday's election.

But questions remain about the number and quality of jobs created, and the future of the economy under tighter post-pandemic EU fiscal rules.

In a speech to a triumphant finance ministry gathering in Athens last month, Eurogroup head Paschal Donohoe said Mitsotakis leaves behind "a healthier economic outlook, stronger economic foundations than any previous government has had in some time".

"You should be very proud of the service that you have done for the people of Greece," Donohoe said to applause from conservative party officials and guests.

The outgoing government says it increased national output by 29 billion euros ($32 billion) during its four-year term, jump-starting the economy at the end of Greece's economic crisis and posting steady growth despite the Covid-19 outbreak.

- Infrastructure blitz -

The conservatives say they have overseen the largest infrastructure upgrade programme since 1975, with 2,300 projects underway, including highways, airports, ports and marinas.

They also include the revamped National Archaeological Museum, and a 50-floor residential skyscraper at the new coastal park of Ellinikon that is slated to be Greece's tallest building upon completion in 2026.

The government says it has fulfilled or exceeded its campaign pledges, with 50 different taxes cut, the minimum wage increased by 20 percent, and businesses and individuals shored up through lockdowns and inflation with support packages worth over 57 billion euros.

"I did what I promised, despite the external crises we had to face -- the pandemic, war in Ukraine, inflation, the energy crisis," Mitsotakis told the financial website Capital.gr this month.

Mitsotakis says he "personally" negotiated 31 billion euros in upcoming EU recovery funds and helped attract investments from global giants including Microsoft, Google, Amazon and Pfizer.

"Personally I can say I'm proud of how I am represented as a Greek in the international arena right now," Memos said.

"Certainly, improvement in the economic climate is a strong card in the hands of the ruling party," added Manos Matsaganis, a professor of public finance at Milan's Polytechnic University.

"In the last two years, the Greek economy recovered strongly after the pandemic, exports increased impressively, while also attracting international business activities of high added value," Matsaganis told AFP.

Nevertheless, he said Greece's economic output remains 16 percent below that of 2009, the year before the country was engulfed by its debt crisis.

- 'Low productivity' -

"The Greek economy remains locked in low productivity and low added value activities," Matsaganis said, adding that wages remain "hopelessly low" amid rising prices and that the growth created is "cheap".

Alexis Ioannides, a labour economics professor at Democritus University of Thrace, concurred.

"I see a suffocating and declining labour market," said Ioannides, who in April released a study on youth unemployment commissioned by the GSEVEE confederation of craftsmen and merchants.

Though the jobless rate declined from 19.3 percent in 2018 to 14.7 percent in 2021, Ioannides found that most of the fall was due to people falling out of the workforce, which declined from over 4.7 million to 4.6 million.

Calling Greece "Europe's pleasant surprise," Mitsotakis has claimed that 300,000 jobs were created during his nearly four years in power.

"Our policies are not just growth-oriented, they are socially fair," he said last month.

But Ioannides said that figure "clearly needs a fact check", with his research showing that fewer than 100,000 jobs were created in the government's first three years.

And "they are not particularly good jobs", he said. "With the end of the bailouts, we would have expected a much larger increase."

The Greek economy needs higher-value growth, with a shift towards activities of a higher technological level, higher skills, and higher wages, Matsaganis said.

"So far, progress in this direction has been disappointing," he said.

D.Ford--TFWP