Greece: Staff Report for the 1999 Article IV Consultation
IMF Staff Country Reports, November 5, 1999
Source details
- Canonical URL
- Greece: Staff Report for the 1999 Article IV Consultation
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Bibliographic details
- Published: November 5, 1999
- Series: IMF Staff Country Reports
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9781451922295.002
Key findings on macroeconomic regime and policy stance
- The “regime switch” composed of the drachma devaluation, ERM entry, and the accompanying strengthening of policies was deemed essential by the staff for competitiveness and confidence reasons.
- Monetary policy stance: centered on high interest rates and a strong drachma—characterized as tight and contributing to the anti-inflationary effort.
- The IMF staff judged that, by eschewing what it viewed as the preferable option of an immediate post-devaluation tightening of the fiscal stance, the authorities had limited policy tools to restrain inflation within the short time span available to the Maastricht test date.
Financial sector and credit dynamics
- Mortgage and consumer lending growth described as particularly brisk.
- Bank of Greece expressed concerns about the potential inflationary impact of rapid mortgage and consumer lending growth.
Structural reforms and public sector restructuring
- Visible progress reported on privatization and some aspects of public enterprise restructuring.
- Broad social security and labor market reforms remained largely on hold.
Subjects and keywords (as listed)
- Subjects: Banking, Consumption, Economic sectors, Fiscal policy, Fiscal stance, Inflation, National accounts, Prices, Privatization
- Keywords: Consumption, convergence program target, core inflation, CR, deficit, EMU qualification, Europe, Fiscal stance, foodstuff price, GDP, harmonized inflation index, Inflation, interest rate fall, ISCR, Privatization, Southern Europe
Content in this bundle
- Greece: Staff Report for the 1999 Article IV Consultation-ISCR/99/131
- _stm99131