Greek Revival - Managing Expectations on the Road to Economic Recovery
The odyssey is just beginning for Greece. A decade after a historic economic collapse, the wounded country is taking its first steps toward recovery. After closing an eight-year, €289 billion eurozone bailout last year, Greece is projected to reach 2.4 percent GDP growth in 2019—the highest in 12 years, according to the International Monetary Fund. But there’s a price to pay for austerity. After the country lost 25 percent of its GDP in the economic disaster, unemployment is still just below 20 percent, and the national debt is nearly 180 percent of the GDP.
"We are now in a transitional period," says Nikos Chatzipanagiotou, PMP, director of operations, Next Level Globalization, Thessaloniki, Greece. "Things are starting to recover, but the environment is still quite fragile."
Clearing a massive backlog of projects designed to upgrade and expand infrastructure will be key to rebuilding the economy. At least 75 infrastructure projects are in progress or being planned through 2023—with an estimated value of €18.7 billion. The leading areas include energy, rail and highways. Final bids are being evaluated for a €1.5 billion, eight-year light rail project in Athens—the country’s largest and most expensive public works project in the next decade.
There’s also a need to build and upgrade resorts, hotels …
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