Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said economic growth in Greece could exceed 6.1% in 2021, speaking via teleconference with Forbes Media President Steve Forbes.
The video of the conversation is part of the “Ancient Wisdom, Modern Compass” event, organised by Forbes in Shanghai today, and published on the Greek Forbes website.
“In the second quarter, we had a growth of 16.2%, while we revised our growth forecasts for the whole year to 6.1%. I will not be surprised if the growth rate eventually rises to even higher levels. But what is even more important is that we have a realistic and sound forecast for long-term growth. We achieved this without putting too much burden on the budget. At the same time, by reducing taxes, we are focusing on combating tax evasion “, stressed Mitsotakis.
Responding to his administration’s economic policies and how they aided the economy to regain confidence, he added that “at the end of the day, the markets are the best judges of the correctness of our policies, and the markets have reacted very, very positively. We borrow at historically low-interest rates and are able to raise capital. The state is able to raise as much money as it needs. We have a cash reserve of €40 billion today, and private companies are also raising funds with very attractive valuations.”
Continuing on the tax policy to attract foreign professionals to Greece and incentives to repatriate ex-pats he stressed: “We have horizontal income taxation for anyone who wants to choose Greece as their permanent tax headquarters. For Greeks returning from abroad, we offer a 50% discount on the taxation of their future income. We have created an attractive framework for companies that manage assets to relocate to Greece and now we have a visa program to attract the so-called digital nomads.”
“Greece is a wonderful country. We have great sunshine today, maybe 25 to 26 degrees Celsius. Excellent connectivity. It is a safe country and a member of the eurozone. And in fact, we attract many people, digital nomads, who spend part of their time in Greece and of course, in their own way, contribute to the economy. Many of them buy real estate in Greece. The Athens real estate market is really booming after a prolonged lethargy.”
On the country’s tourism industry and its prospects, he said: “I believe that tourism will fully recover in 2022 and the reason I am optimistic, Steve, is because we had a particularly good performance in 2021. We started with relatively conservative forecasts. We did much better than we expected. The American market – and I want to emphasise this – is really open. We had ten direct flights from the US to Athens every day, and I think this is just the beginning in terms of American tourists who can come to Greece. So I am quite optimistic that 2022 will be a very important year for Greek tourism. But it is not just numbers that matter. We place great emphasis on sustainable tourism.”
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