Getting the numbers right
Now more than ever, Greece is paying the price of having little to no credibility after a succession of government administrations have consistently fiddled with the country’s financial data and the statistics they have presented to their European peers. It seems, however, that the country is finally on the right path. The new independent Hellenic Statistical Authority is beginning to gain a lot of ground in terms of credibility, while a real effort is being made throughout the state apparatus to gather as much data as possible on the public sector so that it may process it. There are those who are experiencing many a wakeful night as they dread what a true report may reveal. These are the same people who believe it’s clever, even cool, to lie to the European Commission or to our other international partners. Those day are over. Now it is time, indeed an opportunity, to bring to light the true picture of the functioning of the Greek state, to see the real magnitude of its debts and to begin to rebuild its credibility.
