Spyke

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Greece to Pay Off €6.9 Billion in June, Ending Its Run as Eurozone's Most Indebted Nation

It's been tough:

Austerity left a lasting legacy in the form of low employment rates, brain drain, capital and capital destruction (...). Reforms (...) contained the liberalisation of wage bargaining, transition from sector-level to firm-level collective agreements; easing dismissals, (...) extending the use of fixed-term contracts, reducing overtime premia, extending part-time shift work (or partial lay-off). (...) During much of the crisis, (...) long-term unemployed represented about 70% of all unemployed, and less than 20% of all unemployed were receiving an unemployment allowance, (...) excluding long-term unemployed, self-employed and the young. (...) Far-reaching privatisations were implemented towards the end of the programs, for debt reduction and attracting foreign investment, including plots of land, airports, ports, and utility companies. source