## Greece: 2018 Article IV Consultation and Proposal for Post-Program Monitoring-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Greece

_IMF Staff Country Reports, July 31, 2018_

## Source details

**Canonical URL:** [Greece: 2018 Article IV Consultation and Proposal for Post-Program Monitoring-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Greece](https://www.imf.org/en/publications/cr/issues/2018/07/31/greece-2018-article-iv-consultation-and-proposal-for-post-program-monitoring-press-release-46138)

## Other formats

- [Markdown version](/en/publications/cr/issues/2018/07/31/greece-2018-article-iv-consultation-and-proposal-for-post-program-monitoring-press-release-46138/index.md)
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## Bibliographic details
- Published: July 31, 2018
- Series: IMF Staff Country Reports
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9781484371817.002

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### Economic stabilization and growth
- Greece "has stabilized its economy and begun to grow."
- European partners provided significant support, including a final loan disbursement under the ESM program and additional debt relief.
- Country exiting the program era in August.

### Remaining crisis legacies and risks to prospects
- High public debt.
- Weak bank balance sheets.
- Reliance on capital controls and emergency liquidity assistance.
- Worrisome social indicators, including still-high unemployment.
- These factors "all weigh on growth and social cohesion."

### Fiscal adjustment and public finances
- Fiscal adjustment described as "significant" and "sizable."
- Adjustment has relied on:
  - Distortionary high tax rates on still-narrow bases.
  - Growth-detrimental discretionary spending cuts.
- Efforts to bring down tax and spending arrears have been met with limited success.

### Banking and credit
- Bank credit "continues to shrink."
- Banks characterized by weak balance sheets and reliance on emergency liquidity assistance.

### Social outcomes and poverty risk
- Social spending is "better targeted," but:
  - Many social needs remain unmet.
  - The risk of poverty remains high.
  - Unemployment remains "still-high."

### Structural reforms and competitiveness
- Structural reform efforts have been "significant" but "fallen wellshort of what is needed."
- Competitiveness indicators remain below the Euro Area average.
- "The planned reversal of reforms to the collective bargaining framework risks undoing previous gains in competitiveness."

### Publication and metadata
- Publication date: July 31, 2018
- Pages: 83
- Volume: 2018
- Issue: 248
- Series: Country Report No. 2018/248
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9781484371817.002
- Stock No: 1GRCEA2018001
- ISBN: 9781484371817
- ISSN: 1934-7685
- Subjects: Asset and liability management, Banking, Credit, Debt relief, Fiscal policy, Fiscal stance, Money, Public debt, Tax administration core functions
- Keywords: article IV report, baseline scenario of the IMF, CR, Credit, Debt relief, economy, Fiscal stance, Global, goods trade balance statistics, IMF's view, ISCR, liability positions vis-à-vis nonresident, market, SDR million, surplus, tax authority

*International Monetary Fund. Greece: 2018 Article IV Consultation and Proposal for Post-Program Monitoring-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Greece (IMF Staff Country Reports 2018, 248).*

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## Content in this bundle

- **Country Report**
  - [Country Report (Markdown version)](/-/media/files/publications/cr/2018/cr18248.pdf.md){rel="alternate" type="text/markdown"}
  - [Country Report (PDF)](/-/media/files/publications/cr/2018/cr18248.pdf){rel="external" type="application/pdf"}

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_Source: https://www.imf.org/en/publications/cr/issues/2018/07/31/greece-2018-article-iv-consultation-and-proposal-for-post-program-monitoring-press-release-46138_