Dr. Tasos Anastasatos, Group Chief Economist of Eurobank
Following an overperformance compared to the Euro Area for 3 years in a row, the Greek economy is expected to grow by 2% in 2024, with the main drivers being private consumption and exports of services, given that tourism is heading for a new record high this year. On the contrary, exports of goods show negative trends, while imports continue to increase. The implementation of the projects related to the RRF will boost investments, offsetting the negative effects of high interest rates and uncertainty. Growth has the potential to accelerate to 2.4% in 2025 and 2026 as the Euro Area recovers and RRF projects mature. However, in order for the outperformance of the Greek economy to continue in the medium term, it is imperative that the implementation of investment projects and structural reforms related to the RRF are accelerated to support the transformation of the long-term growth model in the direction of introducing more knowledge and extroversion in production, thus making growth more sustainable.