Stournaras tells Fortune: Greece desperately needs foreign investment
In an interview with the American news magazine Fortune, Bank of Greece Governor Yannis Stournaras emphasized the need for immediate investments to boost growth.
He highlighted high debt, an "investment gap" and brain drain as the key problems that Greece inherited from its financial crisis and will endure for several years despite progress in restoring fiscal balance, the banking system and competitiveness.
Responding to a question about planned investments that have yet to be realized, the BoG chief stressed that Greece "desperately" needs foreign direct investment in order to boost growth, noting that the country currently invests only 10 percent of its gross domestic produc compared to 20 percent in the pre-crisis years.
Asked whether Greece is out of danger, he responded that it was "definitely not," noting that a country that has just emerged from years of austerity needs to "be careful."
Noting that the crisis led the country's economy to shrink more than 25 percent and prompted hundreds of thousands of people to emigrate, Stournaras said it constituted "a lesson that we will never forget."
