Editorial: Indicator

13:38 30/1/2019 - Πηγή: Τα Νεα

Before declaring the end of the crisis and the beginning of normalcy the government should have learned some lessons from the five-year bond that it issued.

The first, basic lesson is that Greece is the only eurozone country that borrows with such high interest rates.
The crisis is over for Portugal and Spain, but unfortunately not for Greece.

The second lesson is that grandiose declarations boomerang.

The

prime minister had once famously declared that the markets would march to his tune. They did not. In fact, they barred Greece from the party of cheap borrowing enjoyed by all other eurozone member-states.

Prettifying reality is costly. In order to persuade citizens that the realities are different from what they are experiencing, the government is handing out benefits and promises.

It is precisely that largesse that the markets scrutinise daily as an indicator of the country’s credibility. Whether the Greek economy will win the trust of markets in order to get back on the tracks from which the crisis derailed it will depend on that indicator.

There is a very long road ahead. The government should have realised that even without the issuance of a very costly bond.