Skertsos: Greece has accelerated reforms, gained credibility

"After September-October, we have increased the rate and speed of reforms," Minister of State Akis Skertsos stated in an interview with SKAI television on Sunday, listing the actions either completed or underway and concluding: "Greece is now becoming credible".

The interview touched on a number of issues, including the postal vote, the recent improvement in relations with Turkiye and the efforts to build relations of confidence between the two neighbours, as well as economic policy and efforts to address the flagging birth rate in Greece.

Skertsos highlighted the good news on the economic front, especially the upgrade of Greece's credit rating by Fitch, which was the fourth consecutive upgrade that returned Greece's rating to investment grade.

"This means that the recovery of investment grade is now finally sealed after a full 14 years...this means more investments in the country, more jobs, higher incomes. Only through additional growth can incomes and pensions increase," the minister said, adding that Greece "is now becoming credible".

He also welcomed the drop in the unemployment rate to below 10 pct for the first time in 14 years, especially among young people and women, while stressing the need to raise the real income of Greek households and deal with the problem of high prices.

Marinakis: Greek economy 'very resilient'

Government spokesperson Pavlos Marinakis, briefing the press on Friday, referred to Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis' participation in the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai.

"Our country is taking part in the Conference as a global protagonist, as studies place it among the top countries globally in the use of renewable energy sources," Marinakis said.

Referring to the postal vote bill, he said that it was a deeply social draft law that makes it even easier for Greek citizens to participate in democracy's most important processes, 50 years after democracy was restored in Greece. Marinakis also spoke about the state of the economy, which he described as "very resilient".

He noted that Greece has the third-highest growth rate in the European Union and record levels of direct investments, while the primary surplus has outperformed the forecasts of the medium-term programme and public debt has dropped significantly as a percentage of GDP, even as unemployment has returned to pre-crisis levels.