The conclusion of the review of Greece’s program will end the great recessionary cycle of recent years and open up a new chapter for the country, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said on Monday, at the inauguration of the Posidonia 2016 shipping exhibition in Athens.
Tsipras said the agreement on Greece’s debt will finally and permanently remove uncertainty and create conditions for the country’s return to the markets.
“Thanks to last year’s dogged negotiations, the issue of Greece’s debt is now put on a realistic basis,” he said, noting that no debt can be sustainable when based on the assumption of primary surpluses exceeding 4.5 percent of GDP for decades. The Greek leader said that European partners realized that the project of European integration cannot proceed when, at the first difficulty, there is a return to national strategies and simplistic and moralistic distinctions between “virtuous” and “prodigal” nations.
In addition, a joint commitment for automatic intervention to the debt whenever this is judged necessary and throughout the period of its repayment will make Greece’s debt sustainable and Greece’s position within the Eurozone unassailable. Tsipras also pointed to a clause limiting annual debt repayments to not more than 15 percent of the GDP to ensure that its repayment is made on sustainable terms for Greek society and the Greek economy.
The prime minister also highlighted the contribution made by shipping to the Greek economy, saying that this represented at least 7 percent of the GDP, and the difficulties experienced by the shipping sector as a result of the global economic crisis, where he noted that Greek shipping had successfully adapted to protect itself and absorb the turbulence of an unprecedented crisis. He noted that the growth model of the Greek shipping sector, which had allowed the Greek fleet to dominate on a global level, could act as an example for a new developmental model.
He called on the shipping sector to “relaunch a permanent and constructive dialogue that will help strengthen the contribution of Greek-owned shipping to economic growth, to creating positions of employment and placing the country at the center of the global shipping industry.”
Source: ANA-MPA
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