An independent report commissioned by the Governors of the Europe Stability Mechanism and carried out by Joaquín Almunia, former European Commissioner, demonstrated the severe harm caused by the bailout program that loaded 210 billion euros of debt on the Greek economy. In an understatement, the report charged that the bailout plan paid “insufficient attention” to the Greek social needs.
Speaking at a video press conference on Thursday, Almunia said that while the bailout kept Greece in the Eurozone and saved the Euro, “At the same time, Greece and its citizens suffered the consequences of eight years of very hard economic adjustment”. According to the report in Euroactiv.com Almunia further stated that the program raised “concerns” that bailout programs should in fact have social priorities in mind when drafted.
The text of the 167-page report also made this point quite clear where it stated that the Eurogroup, European Commission, ESM, European Central Bank, International Monetary Fund), who designed the program paid “insufficient attention to the underlying social needs of the Greek population.”
The fiscal targets were “not conducive to inclusive growth, and lacked a long-term economic outlook. The ESM program failed to systematically and vigorously pursue the objective of longer-term macroeconomic sustainability and resilience.”
