Eight years of economic crisis in Greece left 920,000 employees and 244,000 entrepreneurs without jobs and the day of Greece exiting the EU bailout program should be a day for reflection rather than a day for celebrations, President of the Hellenic Confederation of Commerce and Entrepreneurship (ESEE) Vassilios Korkidis told Sputnik on Monday.
ATHENS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th August, 2018) Eight years of economic crisis in Greece left 920,000 employees and 244,000 entrepreneurs without jobs and the day of Greece exiting the EU bailout program should be a day for reflection rather than a day for celebrations, President of the Hellenic Confederation of Commerce and Entrepreneurship (ESEE) Vassilios Korkidis told Sputnik on Monday.
On Monday, Greece, which implemented all the requirements of its creditors, is exiting the third and final EU bailout program.
"I believe that for small and medium-sized businesses August 21 is a day for taking stock, not celebrating. With 920,000 unemployed and 244,000 unoccupied entrepreneurs without jobs, the conclusion will be very disappointing," Korkidis said.
He added that the country should recover the 25 percent of GDP lost over the past eight years.
"What we will consider as a real and substantial, rather than formalistic, leaving behind of memorandums, is business growth, increased employment, higher wages, elimination of capital controls, improved bank liquidity on the market, and of course the termination of excessive taxation of individuals and entities," Korkidis stressed.
Greece has been burdened with a massive debt, loss of investor confidence and unemployment since 2009, when the country was declared in risk of default on its state debt unless offered international assistance. In order to help Athens refinance its government debt and avoid a default, the European Union provided a series of bailout packages to rescue the country in exchange for austerity reforms.
