The new Finance Minister Gikas Hardouvelis spoke at the Economist conference and asked citizens to support the reforms and politicians to show a sense of unity, because as he warned, “at the end, we all pay the bill”.

“Let’s stop talking about elections and start cooperating” he said adding that “crisis should have united us and not separated us”.

The Finance Minister said that “Greece has implemented a comprehensive program to eliminate the long-term problems of Greece which were also the cause of the crisis” and added that “the program is about to end and from now on everything will be clearer”.

Regarding the future, Mr. Hardouvelis highlighted that 2014 will be the first year of economic growth, but he also stressed that Greece should not rest. “Greek economy in 2015 should be able to increase employment, enhance citizens’ expectations and boost exports and investments,” he said.

He also said that “we should take initiatives to attract new investments” underlining that privatizations should continue because, as he state, “those who buy boost the labor market”.