An agreement has therefore been found so that Greece can finally go to the markets to finance and support its economy, from August 21, but this is not without serious conditions.
This is the end of the three European safeguard plans which since 2010 have supported the country, in exchange for drastic cuts in public spending. For Thomais Papaioannu, correspondent in France for Greek public television and Cypriot, this is not the end of Greece’s surveillance, however.
The agreement is made to calm the markets
Thomais Papaioannu, journalist
In any case, this is what journalist Thomais Papaioannu believes, because the markets must be assured that the troika is managing the Greek situation. The troika is this alliance between the European Commission, the European Central Bank (ECB) and the IMF (International Monetary Fund). Since the start of the Greek crisis and the first European aid plan in 2010, these three institutions have closely monitored the counterparts, that is to say the reforms undertaken by Athens.
These reforms are not over yet; 88 laws already passed by the Greek parliament will be applied until 2023. For example, there will be a further reduction in pensions at the beginning of next year. Also the Greeks know that it is necessary to wait until 2023 to see more clearly.
The Greeks are still in debt for a long time
As for the debt, which represents 180% of GDP, it will begin to be repaid from 2032 and no longer from 2022, i.e. 10 years more than expected, but the end of repayments will occur in 2069.
Some numbers
According to the European Commission, since 2010, Athens has received 273.7 billion euros in aid, including 32 billion from the IMF. In return, she had to carry out 450 reforms. In eight years, public finances have been modernized for tax revenue, or the cadastre, which was almost non-existent, now covers 32% of the territory.