It has been 7 years since Greece has left behind the memoranda. The narrative at the time was that we were entering a new era, that “the difficult times are over.” But the difficult times… never went away.
Positive and negative aspects
The Greek economy has returned to growth rates, raised money from the issuance of bonds and recorded surpluses. And these surpluses became bonuses, passes, benefits, announcements at the TIF.
However, the interventions of the crisis have remained. Employees were expecting the restoration of rights, but the three-year freezes in salary increases were only unfrozen last year – and slowly.
The minimum wage is at 880 euros, while collective agreements remain limited in some only sectors. Somehow we are lagging behind the once poor nations of the former Eastern bloc in terms of wages and purchasing power. The dream was once to become Denmark, now the country is struggling to become the Czech Republic, Poland.
Pensioners
Around 670,000 pensioners are not entitled to an increase in pensions because of a temporary measure taken during the crisis and is still valid.
The high VAT and special consumption taxes were imposed during the memoranda period. Seven years later, and yet they are still here – as they are offering high revenues to the state coffers. From 2018 to 2025, indirect tax revenues increased by 8.1 billion euros. And with prices soaring, the cost for the citizens is increased.
The 70 “losses” of the Stock Exchange
The Athens Stock Exchange may be celebrating the 7th anniversary of the termination of the memoranda in the best possible way, rising over 2,000 points and “running at +42% in 2025”, but that does not mean that everything is rosy.
The balance of listings – delistings in the period 2018 – 2025 is negative by 50 companies. This is because 70 companies were delisted from the Athens stock exchange and only 20 were listed.
