Achieving an inclusive and sustainable recovery in Greece

by Mauro Pisu and Tim Bulman, Greece Desk, Economics Department

Greece is finally recovering from a deep depression. In 2017 GDP expanded by 1.3%, according to initial estimates, and is projected to accelerate to 2% in 2018 and 2.3% in 2019 (Figure 1). Labour market reforms have improved competitiveness and exports are leading the expansion. Overall the economy is becoming more open. Exports rose from 24% of GDP in 2008 to 34% in 2017. Employment is rising strongly while the external and fiscal imbalances are being addressed. Public finances are outperforming European Stability Mechanism (ESM) Stability Support programme’s targets, helping to restore fiscal credibility. Financial markets are taking notice, with bond spreads falling and agencies upgrading their ratings of Greece’s public debt.

Despite these positive developments, the long crisis has left deep scars in the society that have yet to heal. GDP per capita is still 25% below its pre-crisis level. The public debt is still high. Wages are low. Though poverty has stabilised, it remains near a record high, especially among the young and families.

The OECD’s 2018 Economic Survey of Greece suggests that maintaining the reform momentum and strengthening reform ownership will be essential to sustaining the recovery and moving towards a more inclusive and prosperous society. Keeping the reform momentum is crucial to tackle the three key challenges highlighted in the 2018 Survey: Improving debt sustainability, sustaining job growth and reducing poverty, boosting investment.

The public debt has stabilised but at about 175% of GDP is still one of the largest in the world. A three-pronged strategy would place this on a downward path for the long-term (Figure 2). This includes: additional pro-growth reforms; large but realistic primary surpluses; and additional debt restructuring, as needed:

• Pro-growth reforms, focusing on improving the functioning of public administration and product markets as well as boosting labour force participation, will do most to bolster long term GDP growth.
• Maintaining the primary surplus above 2% of GDP into the long-term will be challenging but can be achieved through further broadening the tax base – by improving tax collection and reducing the informal economy – and improving spending effectiveness – by using spending reviews regularly and continuing the ambitious public administration reform.
• As concerns debt restructuring, locking-in the currently low interest rates on concessional loans would reduce public debt below 80% of GDP by the 2050s, under prudent assumptions, if combined with additional pro-growth reforms.

For Greece’s recovery to be inclusive, it must be rich in jobs. Greece’s recent labour market reforms have improved flexibility and supported job creation. However, over 1 million people are still unemployed, three-quarters for over a year. New jobs often pay the minimum wage, and are part-time or temporary. Reintroducing sectoral collective wage agreements should aim at maintaining the flexibility of the current system, ensuring wages align with productivity and better protecting individuals from labour market risks. They should cover broad working conditions and have no automatic extensions. Since small firms employ most workers, wage agreements need also to be flexible enough to take into account their specific circumstances.

The number of Greeks suffering from poverty doubled between 2010 and 2016, to almost 2.4 million on some measures, harming families with children the most. Recent reforms have already started to address this problem by better targeting social programmes. However, the many small and poorly targeted programmes and cumbersome administrative processes lower the effectiveness of and access to the welfare system. Progress towards better targeting social programmes and simplifying administrative processes should continue so as to create a fairer and more effective welfare system.

Investment has dropped by 60% since the onset of the crisis and has yet to recover, because of a mixture of weak demand, tight financial conditions and structural problems. The productive stock capital is now falling, dragging down GDP growth.

Recent reforms have already improved important areas of the investment climate, but Greece’s business environment still lags other countries. Further addressing product market restrictions, improving regulatory quality and transparency through Regulatory Impact Assessments, completing the land registry, and fully implementing the legislated insolvency reforms are priorities the OECD survey highlights.

Greece also needs to continue tackling the challenges facing its banking sector. Governance standards have improved drastically but these still need to become entrenched practices. Addressing the large stock of non-performing loans will require fully implementing out-of-court workout procedures and e-auctions, and strengthening temporary tax incentives to encourage the disposal of banks’ non-performing loans. Carefully phasing out capital controls, while preserving financial stability, will also be needed to restore access to finance.

References:

OCDE (2018) OECD Economic Surveys: Greece 2018 OECD Publishing.