Stournaras warns against repeating past mistakes
A day after figures by the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) showed a slowdown in growth, Bank of Greece Governor Yannis Stournaras on Wednesday warned against repeating the mistakes that led to the country’s financial crisis.
“The hardest days are behind us,” Stournaras told Kriti TV. “However, we must make sure not to repeat past mistakes in order to cut public debt, to support banks in managing non-performing loans and reduce unemployment,” he added.
ELSTAT figures on Tuesday showed that the economy grew by just 1.3 percent on a yearly basis in the January-March period.
The leftist government sought to put on a brave face, with the Finance Ministry saying the data “confirm that the Greek economy’s recovery continued for a ninth quarter in a row.”
New Democracy’s economy spokesman Christos Staikouras said that “the Greek economy continues to fly low as a result of the deliberate government choice to overtax households and corporations, so as to achieve excessive primary surpluses.”
