Unpleasant statistics
There was nothing pleasant about the flash estimates published on Friday by the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) on the progress of the Greek economy, which pointed to a contraction of 0.4 percent in the first quarter of 2016.
The data further strongly suggest that we will see equally unpleasant results for the remainder of the year which are doubtless the result of the deluded approach to negotiations with international creditors that defined the period in 2015 when Yanis Varoufakis was finance minister, which ultimately led to the closure of the country’s banks and the imposition of capital controls.
We can only hope that following the publication of those figures the SYRIZA-led government has now come to the necessary conclusions and will not again allow itself to be drawn into another vicious cycle of self-delusion.
