Greeks feel economy is not strong
Greece might be a member of the eurozone, and therefore partner to some of the world’s biggest economies, but three out of four Greeks do not believe that their country has a strong economy. On the contrary, they feel that they are threatened by unemployment, high prices and deficits, according to a poll conducted by VPRC for Kathimerini and Skai Radio. According to the poll, 72 percent of Greeks believe that Greece does not have a strong economy and 22 percent believe that it does. And a large majority believes that the true state of the economy is worse than that depicted by official figures. The nationwide poll was conducted among 1,201 people from May 10-12 and is part of a series in the runup to the European Parliament elections that will be held on June 13. Party affiliation appeared to color people’s views as to how strong or weak the economy is. Among those who voted for PASOK on March 7, 27 percent believe Greece has a strong economy and 69 percent that it is weak. Voters for conservative New Democracy, which beat PASOK, are even less convinced by the former government’s claims that Greece has a strong economy, with 23 percent agreeing with this and 71 percent saying the economy is weak. Voters for the Communist Party are overwhelmingly convinced (88 percent) of the economy’s weakness. Overall, 77 percent of those polled believe that prices are higher than official figures show, with 2 percent saying they are probably lower and 19 percent believing the official figures. Regarding deficits, 56 percent believe things are worse than official figures show, 4 percent that they are better, 17 percent that reality and official figures are the same, while a full 23 percent say they don’t know. On unemployment, 70 percent believe the true situation is worse than that presented in official figures, 8 percent that it is better and 17 percent that there is no difference between reality and the official statistics. The poll found also that people’s beliefs were very similar irrespective of whether they were employers, employed, pensioners or students.
