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“Greece needs political stability and business-friendly policies, as it is now. If he continues, he will do very well. Countries that have these two elements, political stability and policies business-friendly, are doing extremely well,” Fairfax Financial Holdings President and CEO Prem Watsa noted in his message from the boardroom.
They place it halfway to convergence with the most developed economies Hellas investors and financial analysts, through their interventions during the second working day at Delphi Economic Forum. Mapping out the next steps after stabilization and recovery, they converged on the tripartite: stable government – investment quality – investment accompanied by reforms.
The message sent from the conference stage by the President and CEO of Fairfax Financial Holdings was typical. Prem Watsa“Greece needs political stability and business-friendly policies, like it is now. If he continues, he will do very well. Countries that have those two elements, political stability and business-friendly policies, are doing exceptionally well.”
He noted that money is now entering the country through investments which reduce the unemployment. He also noted that Greece has one of the best debt profiles in Europe, with a low interest rate and a long repayment period. Thus, he estimates that the country will return as an investment “after the elections, in the coming months”. The main shareholder of Eurobank spoke about the excellent state of capital adequacy of Greek banks. He even estimated that they will not be affected by the uncertainty of the financial incidents in the United States and Switzerland, pointing out that the Greek economy and its banking system are starting from a low base, “that is why Greece is currently the best stock exchange in the world”. world “.
Asked if the time was near for him to sell shares in the bank, Mr Watsa insisted that Fairfax still had a long way to go in investing in Eurobank; he credited his management, describing his team as excellent. On this occasion, he explained that Fairfax aims for long-term investments and that it will continue to invest money in Greece.
What message have financial analysts and investors sent from the Delphi Forum?
The eminent economist also emphasized the stability parameter for the continuation of the reform process Nouriel Roubini, who spoke of a significant change in Greece’s economic policy over the past three years. “However, the work is not yet finished,” he said characteristically, focusing on three main areas of modernization of the Greek system: upgrading public administration, reforming the system judiciary, but also better attract innovation – he pointed out that in the current economy of knowledge and technological ingenuity, Greece needs more business innovation vehicles such as startups.
Mr. Roubini also developed the geopolitical challenges likely to co-shape the country’s development perspective, insofar as they will turn into real threats. In particular, he referred to the “economic mess” in which Turkey finds itself, underlining the danger that after the elections, the neighboring country will externalize its internal problems in its bilateral relations with Greece. Referring to the international environment, he described a scenario of stagflation, i.e. low growth and high inflation, which is also driven by what he sees as structural factors – aging population , climate change, difficulties in transitioning to clean energies, – globalization which ultimately increases production costs. He made special mention of the risks associated with high stocks of global debt.
The former head of the International Banking Union spoke of significant progress in the Greek economy, which is impressing investors around the world. Charles Dallara, which distinguished a high growth rate, good budgetary discipline and efficient management of the resources of the Recovery Fund. However, he pointed out that many of the country’s structural problems have not yet been resolved.
The fact that Greece is placed one level below the investment grade was mentioned by the Prime Minister’s economic adviser, Alex Patelis, pointing out: “When you don’t have it, they call you junk. For many investors, this is important, because the law prohibits them from investing in countries that do not have it.” Asked why the ratings agencies aren’t granting the much-desired upgrade yet, since the economy is supposed to meet specs, he replied meaningfully, “Obviously, because we have an election.”
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