The head of Parliament’s independent Budget Office on Thursday emphasized the need to fulfill prior actions in the post-bailout Greece, such as reforms and privatizations, statements mostly echoing his predecessor in the position.
What made Frangiskos Koutentakis’ position noteworthy, moreover, is the fact that he was nominated for the post and mostly backed by a majority of deputies belonging to ruling SYRIZA, in whose government he also served as the finance ministry's general secretary for fiscal policy.
His comments came during a presentation of his office’s quarterly report on the Oct-Dec 2018 period to a relevant Parliamentary committee.
He also warned that failure to secure the disbursement to Greece of profits (ANFA and SMP) generated Greek bonds held by EZ members’ central banks and the ECB will send a “negative message” to the markets over the course of the economy. The issue is up for discussion at a March 11 Eurogroup meeting.
Koutentakis said “heavy burdens” remain on the country from the crises years.
“We have be seeing an improvement in figures, but did does not mean that the country is fine. Years will pass until prosperity is restored to a respectable level… I would like to dampen the excessively optimistic expectations that we hear; there are no magic solutions, nor can the country restore the damage done in eight or nine years in just one or two years,” he said.
