admin“Now is not the time to relax the effort,” Lagarde told state television NET in an interview recorded last week.
“There are some really positive developments but obviously more needs to be done in terms of revenue collection, in terms of independence of the tax administration going forward, in terms of product and service market reforms,” she said.
“Opening up the product and service market I think would go a long way in attracting investors and making sure that the Greek economy can pick up,” Lagarde said.
After six years in recession, Greece projects slight growth next year, though international officials disagree over whether this is possible.
The OECD last week forecast that the Greek recession would continue into 2014, with a 1,2 percent contraction.
Greece’s best hope currently lies in hitting a primary surplus not including debt servicing costs in 2014 in order to earn additional debt relief from its European creditors.
Greece last year erased nearly a third of its immediate debt, over 100 billion euros thanks to an unprecedented write-down agreed with private creditors including banks and pension funds.
Lagarde repeated yesterday that debt targets for 2020 and 2022 had to be respected without necessarily resorting to another so-called “haircut”.
“I’m not talking about haircuts. I think what is important is to keep in mind the targets. The targets are 2020, 124 percent debt-to-GDP ratio, 2022 under 110 percent debt to GDP ratio,” she said. — AFP.
Online Reporter