ECONOMY

Greek foreign debt comes to nearly 30,000 euros per capita, SEV reports

Greek foreign debt comes to nearly 30,000 euros per capita, SEV reports

Greece's foreign debt burden corresponds to 29,700 euros per Greek, almost double the average gross income, the Hellenic Federation of Enterprises (SEV) found in an analysis published on Thursday.

Based on the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's (OECD) 2017 “How's Life” report, SEV's analysis on the impact of disinvestment in natural, human, economic and social capital, found that Greece comes in last place in terms of the sustainability of prosperity levels, behind fellow bailed-out countries Portugal and Spain.

SEV noted that while Greece ranked 23rd among the OECD's member states in terms of natural capital, it came last in the category of financial capital as a result of the country's massive foreign debt, the collapse of investments and banks' capital needs over the past few years.

The country's performance is also poor in the categories of social and human capital due, respectively, to an absence of trust in its institutions and a lack of skilled professionals.

However, SEV added, Greece's predicament does not “mean a shortage of options” in terms of creating more favorable conditions for securing an “enduring and balanced increase of investments in the four forms of capital.”

It called for a national strategy for a “dynamic economic and social restructuring with an emphasis on the indices with the worst performance.”

“We have nothing to lose, except the chains that are keeping us bound to mediocrity,” SEV concluded in its analysis.

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