Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis met this morning with the President of the Eurogroup Paschal Donohoe, at Maximos Mansion.
During the meeting, they discussed the course of the Greek economy and issues of European interest, as well as Greece’s proposals for the development of the common European position on trade and tariffs.
It was stressed that since the pandemic, Greece has consistently achieved growth rates that far exceed the European average, has reduced unemployment and boosted employment to pre-crisis levels, has improved its debt-to-GDP ratio at a faster rate than any other country in the world and has increased its extroversion and exports, while upgrading the investment environment.
The country’s commitment to fiscal stability and the results in the fight against tax evasion were also highlighted.
On trade, the Prime Minister reiterated his proposal for a mutually beneficial agreement between the EU and the United States, which would maintain deep trade and investment ties.
At the beginning of their meeting, the Prime Minister and the President of the Eurogroup had the following dialogue:
Kyriakos Mitsotakis: Mr. President, welcome. It’s a real pleasure to host you once more in Athens. Υou come at a very interesting and challenging time. But I’m happy to report that as we’ve discussed numerous times, the Greek economy has been making consistent progress over the past years. Growth rate is significantly higher than the Eurozone average. Inflation continues its gradual decline.
I’m very happy with our performance when it comes to investments and exports, which means that we are literally changing the fabric of the Greek economy, focusing more on competitiveness issues and addressing the underlying structural problems that we inherited from the crisis.
And of course, our overall fiscal position is extremely positive. We keep surprising ourselves and our partners by exceeding the targets that we have set. And I think this is also quite important for us, because it gives us a foundation upon which we can build all our remaining policies. And whatever income support we can offer, more vulnerable Greeks, essentially comes from the overperformance of the economy.
I would like to also publicly congratulate both Kostis and Kyriakos for the amazing work that we’ve done in terms of addressing the structural problem of tax evasion. I think for the first time, we have delivered very concrete results, and it was necessary to take specific measures in this direction. It’s a question of economic efficiency, but it’s also a question of fairness.
And the structural progress gives us even more confidence that we will meet our fiscal targets going forward, which is particularly important at a time of great economic uncertainty. The stronger the foundations, the more confident we are that we can address whatever external shock lies ahead.
So again, thank you again for all the support that you personally have offered to Greece and the Greek economy. You’ve always been a strong partner in this sustained effort that we have made over the past years. I feel I’m really welcoming a close friend to Athens.
Paschal Donohoe: Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Finance, and colleagues and friends, thank you very much for the opportunity to meet you, Prime Minister, on this visit to Athens and to Greece. It is always such a privilege to have the opportunity to meet Prime Minister Mitsotakis.
I want to underline that privilege by just noting that this year marks the 50th year of diplomatic relations between Greece and Ireland. I’m delighted to be here with our new ambassador, Ambassador Ciara O’Floinn, who has just recently been appointed to represent Ireland to Greece. On this visit, we just recognise the value of a great friendship and a great economic and political relationship.
But also as President of the Eurogroup, I again want to recognise and acknowledge the extraordinary success of the Greek economy and the achievement of the Greek people. When I joined the Eurogroup a number of years ago, Greece, for a period of time, was unfortunately defined by the financial crisis. Now it is defined as an economy and a country that has made such a successful recovery from the great difficulty of the financial crisis. It is now a country that, for many of the important economic indicators, is performing ahead of the average within the Euro area. Many of us look on with great pride and recognition for the successful policies that have been implemented both by Greece and I also believe by the Euro area and by the European Union.
I want to recognise and thank my colleagues that I’ve had the privilege of working with, now, Deputy Prime Minister and my friend Kostas, and also my new colleague and friend, Kyriakos, and to say that I know they will continue to lead the Greek economy to where it now is at the heart of the Euro area and central to all of the debates that we are having regarding the future of the European Union.
Of course, the foundation of all this is you, Prime Minister, your leadership and the work that your governments have done without which the hard work of the Greek people would not have achieved what it is today.
Prime Minister, thank you again for the welcome. It’s a great privilege, as always, to be in your company and a great joy to visit Greece.
