Greek barista Kyriakos Giannichronis has seen the headlines about his nation’s newly booming financial system after years of recession — however he doesn’t really feel the wealth.
The Athens resident solely has about 150 euros ($170) to spare on the finish of the month, and that’s regardless of getting an excellent deal on hire and making a bit of greater than minimal wage.
Many Greeks face related challenges — which is why Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is extensively anticipated to announce new advantages in a keynote speech this weekend.
“I am responsible enough for what I make, but… everything is going up and up. And the amount we get paid is around the same each year,” he mentioned.
“Things look like they’re getting better, but it doesn’t seem like it,” the 27-year-old informed AFP.
Dwelling requirements in Greece stay low regardless of the Mediterranean nation’s substantial rebound which has the financial system rising at two p.c — a better fee than in a lot of Europe.
The explanation for the 2 sides of the coin is that Greece has vital floor to make up after a near-decade financial disaster and pandemic recession.
The financial system “is growing and all the right measures are improving, but starting from a very low basis,” economist Nikos Vettas informed AFP.
“Even if you have an increase now, this improvement is not enough to catch up,” mentioned Vettas, who heads the Greek basis for financial and industrial analysis IOBE think-tank.
To additional complicate issues, housing and meals costs had gone up due to inflation, which solely now could be on its manner down.
“The cost of living actually neutralised part of the increase in the wages that we had, and as a result the real incomes of many households are suffering,” Vettas mentioned.
Mitsotakis’ conservative authorities — which is dipping within the polls — has blamed the excessive price of dwelling on hovering vitality costs that adopted the conflict in Ukraine.
His New Democracy occasion is at present polling at round 22 p.c, a far cry from the 40.56 p.c it gained in nationwide elections final yr.
Mitsotakis is predicted to announce a brand new spherical of advantages within the prime minister’s annual financial system speech in Thessaloniki this weekend.
‘Life is so expensive’
Final yr, the nation of simply over 10 million folks had the second lowest GDP per capita in buying energy inside the European Union.
Solely Bulgaria fared worst, in response to EU information company Eurostat.
It additionally discovered that common annual revenue in Greece was half the European common in 2023.
And the Greek minimal wage is 830 euros, some 900 euros beneath that of France.
“So how are you supposed to live, if you have to rent a house with 500 euros?” requested Athens hairdresser Christina Massiou.
“Life is so expensive that you can’t set aside money for emergencies,” the 24-year-old added.
She and her good friend Alexandra Siouti, who works at a PR company, spoke from beneath a palm tree at a seashore close to Athens.
They’d gone to chill out and “escape from reality”, Massiou mentioned.
“I have seen the older generations say that things are getting better. For them maybe,” Siouti, additionally 24, informed AFP.
“But younger people don’t have many opportunities here to start their life and invest in their dreams.”
No Switzerland or Sweden
Final month, the financial system ministry mentioned family web disposable revenue had risen lately, placing Greece in sixteenth place within the European Union.
The information confirmed the “significant progress our country has achieved in the last five years”, the ministry mentioned in a press release.
However the ministry acknowledged that it was not trigger for celebration or a cause to “underestimate the real difficulties that many of our fellow citizens face”.
“It is obvious that Greece has not turned into Switzerland or Sweden,” it mentioned.
Vettas, the economist, famous that some sectors have fared higher than others.
“We have witnessed in the last three or four years a sharp increase in the salaries of professions where they have some speciality, some expertise,” he mentioned.
“Either at the upper end or the lower end,” Vettas added, giving the examples of pc scientists and building employees.
However for these employed in a sector like hospitality — a giant trade in Greece — “it’s not easy to see how you’re going to improve their position”.
Giannichronis, the barista, mentioned he was attempting to stay zen concerning the financial scenario, regardless of having to consider cash on a regular basis.
“I’m not furious because it wouldn’t do me any good. Things are the way they are. We can’t change much,” he mentioned.
What he can management is find out how to finances his personal bills and assist his pals higher handle theirs, he added.
“But if I was angry about it too, then I would start to lose myself and go crazy on the streets shouting… and I don’t want that.”
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