Greece’s slow and burdensome bureaucracy is estimated to cost the cash-strapped country a total of 14 billion euros a year, ($18.26 billion) or 6.8% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) – almost double the European Union average of 3.5%.
That was the conclusion of a recent meeting between Administrative Reform Minister Antonis Manitakis, Development and Competitiveness Minister Costis Hatzidakis and a team from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Athens.
The OECD has sent a team of advisers to Athens to work with the government on cutting red tape, with the aim of reducing bureaucracy by 25% by the end of 2013, which could mean savings of as much as 7 billion euros, ($9.14 billion.) In a deal signed between Manitakis, Hatzidakis and the OECD, as Kathimerini reports, the Paris-based organization will undertake an inspection of 13 crucial sectors before making recommendations on how red tape can be reduced in order to cut administrative and legislative costs, and to boost the country’s flagging competitiveness.
The sectors that will come under scrutiny include the energy market, agricultural subsidies, public contracts, telecommunications, tourism and the pharmaceutical market, as well as taxation laws.
(Source: ANSA)
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