Averting disaster
The situation in Greece today is very unfair to its citizens. By the final months of 2014, the country had made considerable fiscal strides, had managed to restore at least some of the trust of foreign investors and the economy was starting to pick up.
An angry Greek electorate decided it wanted change and what it got was the amateurish moves of the first SYRIZA-Independent Greeks coalition government. The first year came at a hefty cost, which we are now paying.
At the same time, however, a great deal has been accomplished and this is something the country’s partners and lenders should acknowledge. But the government is incompetent, it does not believe in reforms and it has a propensity for vulgarity.
If Greece were to enter a new cycle of uncertainty, it will not be long before disaster strikes. Either we have to reach a pragmatic compromise to wrap up the bailout review or the coalition will have to make way for a new government, one with faith in reforms and the power to win back international trust. The existing deadlock is painfully unsustainable.
