Stournaras: Greek economy set to beat forecasts

The Greek economy will grow faster than the expected average rate of 2% in the next decade because of specific reasons, Bank of Greece Governor Yannis Stournaras said on Wednesday.

Addressing an event organized by the European Investment Bank in Athens, the Greek central banker said these reasons were the following.

Firstly, the unusually high private sector deposits, which have risen to 15% of GDP in 2021 from 6% on average in the five years before the pandemic – a development which will boost domestic demand and private consumption in particular.

A second reason is that Greece will receive around 30.5 billion euros from the Next Generation EU fund, focusing on high value-added projects boosting growth in energy saving, the green energy transition, digital transformation, employment, social cohesion and private investments.

The use of these funds will boost the country’s real GDP by 7% by 2026. In addition, Greece will receive another €40 billion from structural funds in the coming years and it is expected to attract higher foreign direct and indirect investments.

A third reason, he said, was the increased ability of the banking system to fund sustainable investment plans.