Head of Eurobank Analysis Department sees return to positive growth rates this year

The cumulative decline in Greece’s GDP over the period 2007-2015 is 26.4 percent. In 2016, the Greek economy remained stagnant recording an annual real rate of change of gross domestic product of 0.0 percent, while for the current year it is expected to return to positive growth rates despite the negative result of the first quarter, according to a study presented at Go In Crete conference by the head of the Eurobank Analysis Department, Dr. Platon Monokroussos.
The Eurobank economist also estimated that the Greek economy should grow at an average annual rate of 3.3 percent so that the real GDP returns to pre-crisis levels, ie 2007, in 10 years from today. But if the economy achieves more “reasonable” growth rates, such as 2 percent per annum, it will take 15 years to return to pre-crisis levels, while with growth rates of 1.5 percent it will return in 20 years.
According to the report, the unprecedented recession experienced by Greece in previous years can also be characterized as a period of significant and inevitable adjustment with the elimination of the large macroeconomic imbalances of the past laying the foundations for the transition to a more sustainable model of economic growth based on extroversion and investment.