Wall Street Journal
August 24, 2010
Recall March 2010. Tensions over the Greek debt crisis were running high within the euro zone and among our international partners. People were talking about the end of the single currency. After weeks of intense consultations, phone calls, long days and even longer nights locked in meetings, a sense of determination and solidarity prevailed among European policy makers: "We swim together or we sink together."
Then came May 2010. Europe agreed on a joint euro area and IMF loan-support package for Athens, conditional on Greece's strict implementation of a credible fiscal adjustment program. Many outside critics doubted whether Athens could get the job done.
Now, August 2010. The Commission's first review of the program's implementation shows that, so far, Athens has proved the doubters wrong. Greece's ambitious and front-loaded adjustment program is on track to deliver a return to macroeconomic and financial stability, and stronger and more balanced growth in the medium-term.
Greece has taken drastic, sometimes painful, steps to turn an unsustainable situation around. Fiscal consolidation is progressing following austerity measures totaling about 8% of GDP this year. Reforms of fiscal governance have advanced, for instance in tackling tax evasion. Structural reforms are moving forward, from easing labor-market rules, to raising the statutory retirement age and cutting pensions, to improving the business environment by cutting red tape. Some reforms are being implemented even ahead of schedule. The establishment of a new Financial Stability Fund to deal with the recapitalization and restructuring of financial institutions, if necessary, enhances the resilience of the financial system.
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Ελληνική μετάφραση στην Καθημερινή
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