Well now, how is that going? It is true, apparently, that there is a likelihood of achieving a primary surplus by the end of the year. However, this will be at the cost of the economy as a whole and will no doubt exacerbate the recession since it can only be achieved through taxation that has reached confiscatory proportions and cannot be sustained, unless the majority of the population is put behind bars for inability to pay. But then that will only increase expenses, won’t it?
So apart from that rather dubious achievement, what else constitutes the Samaras success story? Well now, lets see…. um…. ah… Unemployment isn’t increasing as fast as it was? Well it has already hit 27% and still is growing. The recession has been tamed? Not exactly that either. It has already overshot its target in the first four months. So what is left? Privatization!
That panacea the troika treat as gospel. Privatization! That’s the name of the game! Sell off the family silver! Well now, the great hoo ha made over the privatization of OPAP the state betting company rings rather hollow. Firstly, there was only one bidder, secondly the price was below expectations and thirdly, nothing has been paid yet. Hmmmm….
But that’s okay. DEPA, the gas company was to have been the great triumph AND brought in loadsa money! Unfortunately, however, again it was expected there would only be one bidder, Gazprom, only even they didn’t show up this time. Disaster!
But like everything else in this troika project to “save” (?) Greece, everything has been badly designed, badly thought out, based on false facts and considerations existing only in the realm of a limited imagination. First of all, all the proceeds from all privatizations are ear marked to go straight to paying back debt. Nothing will go to help the economy back on its feet again. Not only that, but the state has pledged to undertake losses too. Never mind that it will have collected nothing.
Secondly, when Gazprom showed its interest, the EU started muttering that it did not want Russia to have such a large share of the European market and would probably veto the deal if it went through. So hardly encouraging even the single solitary bid that might have been made.
And last but not least: what does it mean when there are No Bidders for anything put on sale? That prospective investors are brimming over with confidence in the Greek economy, as our cloud cuckoo land PM would have us believe? Does it mean everyone is convinced of his other little deceitful mantra, that the Grexit threat has been vanquished once and for all and Greece will not leave the Euro? No wonder he refuses to show up in Parliament and give answers to pertinet questions over all the nonsense he has been spewing out.
The more the Samaras government proceeds with this policy of do nothing other then what the troika demands, ratchet up austerity because that is what you are being told, do nothing at all in the way of trying to streamline public administration, rationalise tax and stimulate the economy, the less likely Greece has any chance of remaining in the Euro.
After today’s fiasco with the failed DEPA bid, I would suggest to the troika (who already know as much even if they won’t admit it) and Samaras (who hasn’t a clue) that perhaps not only Greece but the EU too would be better served if they stopped whipping this wretched dead horse and applied their energies instead to planning for an orderly exit of Greece from the Euro.
Otherwise it will happen in an extremely disorderly manner.