The implementation of economic adjustment programmes, characterized by a huge shortfall in development realism, has inflicted serious negative consequences to the labor market, the macro-economic system, the financial system and the Greek society, GSEE -the country’s largest trade union umbrella– said on Thursday.
Presenting GSEE Labor Institute’s annual report on the Greek economy and employment in Rhodes, in the framework of GSEE’s annual congress, George Argitis, the Institute’s scientific director, said that the country needed a new development culture, based on interconnecting fiscal, financial and macro-economic performance with the new development model’s structural characteristics and particularly with the productive ability and dynamism of the country to create new job positions.
Argitis said that public finance trends in 2015 were affected significantly by a climate of uncertainty and instability caused by political developments, a freeze of funding, deposit outflow and the imposition of capital controls. He stressed that according to an analysis, fiscal austerity has failed in creating sustainable conditions of fiscal adjustment, reducing uncertainty and economy’s credit risk, contributing in regaining credibiilty in the public sector and contributing to the stabilization of the macro-economic and financial system.
De-escalation trend in unemployment rates
The annual report noted that available income and consumption were steadily falling since 2009 and stressed that a contraction in consumption has reached its lowest levels and showed that any further reduction of available income would have catastrophic consequences to the economy.
The report said that a de-escalation trend in unemployment rates, which began in July 2013, continued in 2014 and 2015, but underlined it would need at least 20 years for the unemployment rate to return to the 7.3 pct rate recorded in May 2008. It also noted that a significant finding of the report was that Greek workers were facing the biggest work insecurity in all OECD member-states, while part-time and other flexible forms of employment has risen significantly.
Referring to the pension system, the report noted that a chronic lack of reform planning, lack of consultation and underestimating the consequences of a reform on the economy and the society led to the current difficult situation and stressed that the Institute’s proposals towards a sustainable social insurance system envisaged the introduction of guaranteed employment programmes, personnel composition, raising minimum wage, supporting collective bargaining agreements, etc.
RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report
