BB4 | Interview with Nik Gowing

PRIME MINISTER
PRESS OFFICE
January 28, 2011

G. A. PAPANDREOU: We have taken very difficult measures. Yes, they were austere. The Greek people, I think we all are in shock about what happened and the same time the Greek people said this is for our country, we are saving our country from bankruptcies, we don’t want to restructure, we don’t want to default, let’s take the measures, let’s show that we can change.

JOURNALIST: Can I just clarify, according to the OECD in Paris and the director General, he says that there is still a possibility that Greece could default. What is your view from Athens?

G. A. PAPANDREOU: This is out of question from our side. We have said that we have a road map and it’s a very clear road map we worked it out with the European Union and the IMF. They are in absolute agreement with us on the fact that we will have a curve coming up to the debt, the debt will go a bit higher the next one or two years but then it will start tapering off and as we move into the structure reforms, we’ve already made, which I think will move forward. This will make us more competitive, greater investment, growth but in the same time we have also done a lot in cutting the deficit and we will have a primary surplus quite soon, which means that we can then repay our debt. 6% cut just last year of GDP that just shows the will we have .

JOURNALIST: What you’ve learnt about the public acceptance or resistance. We have seen strikes, protests and even deaths because of these measures.

G. A. PAPANDREOU: Yes, there were some accidental deaths they didn’t have anything to do with the clashes but these I would say were the exceptions, the majority of the Greek people understand that this is a necessity but as I said this is also linked with the hope of a new Greece of a very big change. I understand that there would be protests because first of all there is also another question. Well there is a lot of inequity around the world, a lot of inequality. There is a lot of wealth and rich and people who are not really responsible for this crisis are being asked to pay but they realise that we must do this because of our country now. One more thing that I think is important is that we need to have a European response also. This is not just a Greek problem. We see there is contagion in Ireland there is pressure on Portugal and Spain, even other countries. This shows that the markets need a robust European governance and this is where I think the next two months will be very crucial and all we need to decide is making and keeping the rules and the tools for a robust intervention into the climate in the markets.

JOURNALIST: I remembered talking to you here exactly one year ago when you were four months in office and you weren’t still quite sure how tough you should be. Do you believe on the balance of being very tough right at the beginning of your government has probably eased the problems and made sure that there is a better chance of coming out of the problem?

G. A. PAPANDREOU: I think there are two things, you are very right. First of all at the very beginning of being elected was the earliest possible moment for taking the most difficult measures we have taken I would say and the other ones…

JOURNALIST: Was it the right thing to do?

G. A. PAPANDREOU: I think it was the right thing to do. Secondly, some of them are tough and I would say some are unjust but most of these measures are very just, we are doing things which were even in our programme. We knew that our economy had to become more competitive. We knew we had to open up professions. We knew we had to reform our pension system, so that the younger generation was sure to get a pension. We knew we had to open up to the younger generation to be able to find jobs. We knew that we had to invest in a more competitive economy, such as a green economy and a quality economy. People are really seeing that it is not just tough measures. It is also making Greece a much more just and a much more competitive country. We are very proud of what we are becoming. I’m saying that, because sometimes people say this is the problem and the problem of Europe is the social welfare system. No, the problem in Greece was not the social welfare system. Yes we did have problems there also, but the problem was also bad management, bad governance. People were very unhappy about that. I think robust governance is part of our democratic tradition and so is being much more just, much more transparent. Greece is becoming a very transparent country. We’ll be number 1, I think in this age of transparency.

JOURNALIST: Your development minister is talking about the possibility of growth by third quarter this year: GDP was down by 4,2%, exports up by 8%, orders by 15%. What has happened in that year of austerity, which has suddenly produced, what he’s calling a miracle?

G. A. PAPANDREOU: I think we have all understood in Greece that we need to move in a different direction. People are starting to take on responsibilities. Each one of us, as citizens. Just to give you an example. Yes the exports are up by 7%, but if you look at the trend, in the last quarter they are up by 25%. So we are really getting a new move – and a new mood – of I would say the beginning of some real optimism, but also energizing our society. What we have to see, is in this time, this is not just a question of austerity. I would say it is a time of more responsibility, a time where we actually bring in a more participative society, a more open, a more energetic society. This is what Greece is becoming and we will all be proud of it.