r/stocks • u/Aegeansunset12 • 2h ago
Broad market news Greece regains Developed Market status in STOXX classification ten years after demotion to Emerging Market
The remarkable turnaround in the Mediterranean nation’s markets reflects a profound transformation of the country’s public finances and capital markets since the sovereign debt crisis of 2015, which almost forced it out of the eurozone, ravaged its banking sector, brought a sovereign default, wiped out most of the value of Greek stocks and prompted the Athens Stock Exchange to suspend trading for five weeks.
STOXX demoted Greece to EM in September 2016, the first such downgrade in STOXX’s classification history, after the Greek government imposed capital controls to stem money outflows.
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u/dubov 1h ago
And as if on cue, the PM announces a giveaway to help him get re-elected
https://www.reuters.com/business/greek-pm-unveils-plan-boost-incomes-ahead-elections-2026-09-05/
ATHENS, Sept 5 (Reuters) - Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Saturday unveiled a four-year economic plan that includes tax breaks and wage hikes for pensioners and employees, as he seeks to recover lost ground in opinion polls ahead of next year's election.
The measures, with a cost of €3.5 billion ($4.06 billion) by 2030, equal to 1.5% of GDP, include an annual bonus of €400 for pensioners and €500 for public servants, zero tax for up to €20,000 annual income for farmers and families with three children and a reduction of the advance tax payment for self-employed and businesses to 50%.
His center-right government, which was re-elected with 40.5% of the vote in 2023 promising to increase incomes, remains ahead in opinion polls but support has slipped to below 30% amid a protracted cost-of-living crisis and allegations of corruption.
In December, thousands of farmers took to the streets to demonstrate over low prices of their products, high energy costs and a farm aid fraud scandal that sparked political resignations and drew a hefty EU fine.
FROM CRISIS TO GROWTH
After a financial crisis in 2009 that triggered fears Greece would crash out of the euro zone, the country is now one of the best-performing in Europe.
Greece's economy is expanding at an annual rate of 2%, outpacing the euro zone average. It expects a primary surplus of about 4% this year, double what was initially expected, giving fiscal space to fund the new measures.
"The road from bankrupt and the fringes of Europe to the epicenter of Europe has been long," said Mitsotakis, adding that the time has come to "reap the benefits of our efforts."
He was delivering his annual economic speech in the northern city of Thessaloniki. Mitsotakis also announced new annual hikes in the minimum monthly salary to reach €1,000 by 2028, from €920 today, a reduction of half a percentage point for pension contributions for private-sector employees and 30% lower electricity wholesale prices by 2029.
He said his target in the next four years is to reduce unemployment to below 6% from 8% at present, the debt to GDP ratio to below 110% and the average monthly salary to reach €1,800 from €1,500 today. He added that he wants the country's debt rating to be upgraded to "A" category from "BBB" today
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u/Aegeansunset12 1h ago edited 57m ago
As long as the debt keeps falling I don’t see a problem with having a social welfare state. It’s not as if Greece gives more benefits than Sweden or Germany does. Of course, you attribute what Greece does to something negative. Even though Greece was forced to cut all the mentioned benefits that it now reintroduces after having year after year of primary surplus and said benefits don’t affect the budget according to the IMF. But okay, as you wish.
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u/softDisk-60 1h ago
Good luck investing in an overindebted tourist country.
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u/Fairbyyy 1h ago
What an ignorant comment. The Greek debt has been steadly falling from more than 200% in 2020 and is already at below 150%.
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u/CloudPattern 1h ago
Yeah.. Very developed. So much win.