{
  "title": "Greece: Selected Issues",
  "publication": "IMF Staff Country Reports, November 15, 2019",
  "sourceUrl": "https://www.imf.org/en/publications/cr/issues/2019/11/14/greece-selected-issues-48807",
  "canonical": "https://www.imf.org/en/publications/cr/issues/2019/11/14/greece-selected-issues-48807",
  "overlayPath": "/en/publications/cr/issues/2019/11/14/greece-selected-issues-48807/index.md",
  "summary": "This Selected Issues paper explores the links between wage policies, non-wage cost developments, and competitiveness. A series of program-era policies helped to partially reverse this trend, including labor market policies that cushioned the effect of the crisis on employment and brought unit labor",
  "sections": [
    {
      "heading": "Key findings",
      "content": "- The paper explores the links between wage policies, non-wage cost developments, and competitiveness.\n- A series of program-era policies helped to partially reverse the trend of declining competitiveness.\n- Labor market policies cushioned the effect of the crisis on employment and brought unit labor costs broadly in line with trading partners.\n- The more competitive wage structure only partly translated into price adjustments because of:\n  - product market rigidities (with firms retaining some profit margin), and\n  - rising non-wage cost factors (e.g., taxes and financing costs).\n- The resulting incomplete internal devaluation and subsequent low productivity gains reinforce the view that Greece has further to go to address its external imbalances."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Drivers of incomplete adjustment",
      "content": "- Product market rigidities that limited pass-through of lower labor costs into consumer prices.\n- Firms retaining profit margins instead of fully passing cost reductions to prices.\n- Rising non-wage cost factors, explicitly including taxes and financing costs."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Risks and threats",
      "content": "- Labor policy reversals following program exit in August 2018 threaten preservation of the achieved labor cost competitiveness.\n- Continued low productivity gains risk undermining progress on external imbalances."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Policy recommendations (paper’s conclusions)",
      "content": "- Preserve labor cost competitiveness achieved during the program era.\n- Increase efforts to facilitate price adjustment in product markets (reduce product market rigidities).\n- Reduce non-wage costs (for example, taxes and financing costs) to complement wage competitiveness and support adjustment.\n\nGreece: Selected Issues\n\n---\n\n Content in this bundle\n\n- Greece: SelectedIssues; IMF Country Report No. 19/341; October 28, 2019\n  - Greece: SelectedIssues; IMF Country Report No. 19/341; October 28, 2019 (Markdown version){rel=\"alternate\" type=\"text/markdown\"}\n  - Greece: SelectedIssues; IMF Country Report No. 19/341; October 28, 2019 (PDF){rel=\"external\" type=\"application/pdf\"}"
    }
  ],
  "bullets": [
    "[Markdown version](/en/publications/cr/issues/2019/11/14/greece-selected-issues-48807/index.md)",
    "[Structured JSON version](/en/publications/cr/issues/2019/11/14/greece-selected-issues-48807/index.json)",
    "[Bundle manifest](/en/publications/cr/issues/2019/11/14/greece-selected-issues-48807/bundle-manifest.json)",
    "Published: November 15, 2019",
    "Series: IMF Staff Country Reports",
    "DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9781513520261.002",
    "The paper explores the links between wage policies, non-wage cost developments, and competitiveness.",
    "A series of program-era policies helped to partially reverse the trend of declining competitiveness.",
    "The more competitive wage structure only partly translated into price adjustments because of:",
    "The resulting incomplete internal devaluation and subsequent low productivity gains reinforce the view that Greece has further to go to address its external imbalances.",
    "Product market rigidities that limited pass-through of lower labor costs into consumer prices.",
    "Firms retaining profit margins instead of fully passing cost reductions to prices.",
    "Rising non-wage cost factors, explicitly including taxes and financing costs.",
    "Continued low productivity gains risk undermining progress on external imbalances.",
    "Preserve labor cost competitiveness achieved during the program era.",
    "Increase efforts to facilitate price adjustment in product markets (reduce product market rigidities).",
    "Reduce non-wage costs (for example, taxes and financing costs) to complement wage competitiveness and support adjustment.",
    "**Greece: Selected_Issues; IMF Country Report No. 19/341; October 28, 2019**"
  ],
  "related": [
    {
      "title": "Greece: Selected_Issues; IMF Country Report No. 19/341; October 28, 2019",
      "role": "document",
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/publications/cr/2019/1grcea2019003.pdf",
      "summary": {
        "path": "/-/media/files/publications/cr/2019/1grcea2019003.pdf.md",
        "mime": "text/markdown"
      },
      "binary": {
        "path": "/-/media/files/publications/cr/2019/1grcea2019003.pdf",
        "mime": "application/pdf"
      }
    }
  ],
  "alternates": {
    "markdown": "/en/publications/cr/issues/2019/11/14/greece-selected-issues-48807/index.md",
    "json": "/en/publications/cr/issues/2019/11/14/greece-selected-issues-48807/index.json",
    "bundleManifest": "/en/publications/cr/issues/2019/11/14/greece-selected-issues-48807/bundle-manifest.json"
  },
  "generatedAtUtc": "2026-09-12T16:00:36.905Z"
}