OPINION

The penny drops

The representatives of the European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund in charge of supervising the Greek program have finally realized that there is absolutely no leeway for additional fiscal measures.

Greeks simply don’t have the money to pay for new or higher taxes. Moreover, no other country has had to make such a large and rapid adjustment as Greece. The only way to move forward from here in order to ensure that the economy gets back on track is to press ahead with structural changes that will bring down prices and open up protected sectors to competition.

Prime Minister Antonis Samaras believes in these changes and has ministers who are ready to make sure that they happen. That said, there are, as always, those who are too afraid of the political cost of shaking things up and prefer everything to remain the same.

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