ECONOMY

Competitiveness keeps sliding

The unfavorable economic climate and delays in reform measures in key sectors and public services led Greece further down the list of 142 countries in the Global Competitiveness Report 2011-2012, released on Wednesday by the World Economic Forum.

Greece is in 90th position – the lowest among EU states – down seven places from 2010 and 19 from 2009.

The report finds the country?s position has deteriorated in nearly all its indices – including those of red tape, infrastructure, labor market and credit – apart from higher education and training. Despite recent improvements, bureaucracy in particular remains the strongest inhibiting factor for entrepreneurship in Greece, the report found. The second most important obstacle was lack of access to credit, followed by corruption and tax legislation, the latter of which changes with great frequency. Political instability and high tax rates figured next.

?The evaluation of public institutions (e.g. effective governance, corruption, abuse of power) continues to be bad, resulting in Greece?s ranking in 89th position (in this respect),? noted the report.

Subscribe to our Newsletters

Enter your information below to receive our weekly newsletters with the latest insights, opinion pieces and current events straight to your inbox.

By signing up you are agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.