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Since the outburst of the crisis, Greece has reduced the number of its civil servants by 56 thousand. The majority of them retired in the last year and a half, when the first census was conducted, and the contracts of the rest were not renewed. The figure announced by the Ministry of Administration includes permanent employees in the public administration, state enterprises, temporary appointees and employees in local government organizations. The number of permanent employees is around 636 thousand. Those appointed additionally with a temporary contract number about 50 thousand and those holding specific positions, less than 20 thousand.

The Memorandum of financial aid stipulates that by 2015, the government must reduce the number employed in the Greek authorities by 15 thousand. "We are in constant contact with the representatives of the supervisory Troika and the pace of staff reduction in public administration is considered satisfactory," Minister Dimitris Repas, who is responsible for the management of civil servants and public services, told reporters. He stressed that the measures introduced so far are considered sufficient and believes that Greece can meet the targets for the public sector cut set by the lenders.

While the ministers of the interim government of Lucas Papademos are preparing for the election campaign and one by one are highlighting their successes in reforming Greece, it has become clear that more than 429 thousand people became unemployed in 2011 and over 108 thousand companies closed. The data became known after the Ministry of Employment announced the results of the current state of the private sector. 20% of the people who have retained their job work reduced hours compared to 2010, and more than 50% of all workers in the country receive salaries with a delay. Prospects for 2012 remain bleak, especially taking into account the news from northern Greece, where 627 industrial enterprises closed only in the first quarter of this year.

Despite the general pessimism in Greece, the main index of the Athens Stock Exchange jumped on Tuesday and closed with 3.17% growth. It reached 730 basis points, and the daily turnover was 60.6 million euro. The banking sector was the most favourable, where growth was 21%, whereas trading companies producing chemicals and beverages proved unprofitable. The interest rate on six-month government bonds recorded a decline too and dropped by 0.25%,. The treasury raised 1.3 billion euro at an interest rate of 4.55%.