A new opinion poll indicates that the majority of Greeks are pessimistic about the future of the country’s beleaguered economy while fearing more painful reforms and social unrest.
According to the poll, conducted by Public Issue seven out of 10 people believe the country is not on track to economic recovery, with 18 per cent saying they think the steps being taken by the government are in the right direction.
In February, when the first raft of austerity measures was unveiled, half of Greeks questioned had expressed this level of pessimism.
The majority of the public also fears that the current situation will degenerate. Seven out of 10 respondents said they thought that the economy would be in a worse state a few months from now.
Just 12 per cent said they believed the country’s economic state would improve, compared to 32 per cent who had similar optimism in December 2009.
An even larger section of the public – 80 per cent, according to the poll – fear the reaction to the government’s austerity measures, with more strikes and demonstrations on the cards.
A similarly high proportion of respondents, 84 per cent, claimed to be disappointed by “Greek democracy”.
Confidence in the competence of the main political parties remains at a low level, according to the poll.
Just 18 per cent of respondents declared themselves satisfied with the job being done by ruling PASOK, slightly down from 22 per cent last month, while only 9 per cent said they were happy with the main conservative opposition New Democracy.
As for the popularity of political leaders, Prime Minister George Papandreou remained at last month’s level with 53 per cent of public support, while ND leader Antonis Samaras inched up to 44 per cent from 40 per cent.
