First the good news; the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) confirms that Greek economy is on the way to recovery, and a return to growth for the country is definitely in sight.
Now the bad news; for that growth to become a reality and arrive as soon as possible, Greece needs to commit to implementing a series of reforms, most notablyt the abolition of all tax cuts.
The OECD forecasts a 2 percent growth this year, instead of the 2.3 percent the Greek government is hoping to achieve and notes that, in order for the country’s GDP to strengthen and its debt to become sustainable, Greece needs to expand fiscal revenues, modernize the public sector and improve the justice system by 2030.
One of the least palatable suggestions of the OECD is the extention of retirement age by four years by 2030, instead of the already scheduled three-year rise to the age of 65 by the same year, a proposal that has met the support of the European Union.
Such measures, along with a broad commodity market reform, would boost GDP BY 46.1 percent, compared to the 25.4 percent increase that Greece has currently projected. Moreover, they would ensure that the country’s national debt would fall to 100 percent of the GDP by the year 2060.
Not all the reforms suggested by OECD fall under the ‘austerity measures’ category; the organization proposes an increase in family benefits, so that they are up to the EU average by 2025.
