Greece is on the "right track", according to the Governor of the Bank of Greece, Yannis Stournaras, who spoke at the Delphi Economic Forum with Tony Barber, the Financial Times' European Comment Editor.

Bank of Greece Governor Yannis Stournaras said that "if the government manages to maintain the primary surplus at 2% and at the same time makes the necessary reforms, we will have nothing to fear". He noted, however, that the country has not achieved as much as it needs in terms of structural competitiveness. "In theory, we have an unemployment rate of 10.5 percent. But the reality is that there are skills missing from the labour market. The big picture is that we have solved the first problems, such as debt refinancing, banks, and social security, but there are other serious problems to increase our competitiveness and growth rates because we need to converge."

In fact, to Tony Barber's point that he seems quieter than in the past, he replied, "Now I can sleep at night without worrying about fiscal instability."

Mr. Stournaras appeared satisfied with the use of the Recovery Fund, a policy he also advocated for problems beyond the pandemic. "Experience has led the South to a proper utilisation of the Recovery Fund. Let me recall that the fund was created because of the pandemic. But there is also climate change which is the 'elephant in the room'. This is an example. We must do the same with the pandemic. Let's create a fund that everyone can access".