Galery

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I think the market will pay a heavy bill for this political instability. After 6 years of recession, many companies have closed down as well as many retail shops. In the summer, the atmosphere was good and perhaps many traders had made orders and supplied themselves with goods in the hope that during the holidays they would be able to cover part of the losses of previous years.

The current political situation is not favourable for this. It is driving people to be more reserved and conservative in terms of spending, which will affect companies and the economy in general, but also state revenue, because when people are concerned about their future, they prefer to keep money at home in order to cover emergency costs than to pay taxes and instalments for the repayment of bank loans.

What is your political and economic forecast for 2015?

I think it will be a very difficult year because the Greek politicians do not show signs that they are mature enough to deal with the situation in the country.

I am afraid that they are unable to realize the serious condition of Greece because of their ideological bias on the one hand and clientelist "obligations" on the other.

The two major governing parties today (New Democracy and PASOK – author’s note) are precisely the ones that have brought Greece to bankruptcy over the past 30 years. Their representatives, even those who have turned to other parties, are captives of clientelistic interests and of the trade unionists in the public sector. I do not think these people are able to change anything in the country. While the mentality in Greece and the model that has brought it to bankruptcy remain unchanged, the situation will be the same - we will come out of a difficult situation for a while and return to zero afterwards.