The Greek unemployment rate rose from 2 percent in the 1960s to 9-10 percent in the 1990s. This reflected the increase in female participation rates, the slowdown in growth, the restructuring of production, and the increased mismatch between jobs and job seekers. But the most crucial factor was...

This paper presents the staff report for Greece’s request for an Extended Arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility. The Greek economy fell into deep twin structural deficits after euro adoption. Easy access to financing at low interest rates fuelled rapid borrowing by the private and...

This Selected Issues paper and Statistical Appendix presents a number of studies designed to probe in more depth issues of fiscal adjustment, the public sector’s creditworthiness as judged by foreign lenders, and the banking system in Greece. The paper highlights that fiscal adjustment in...

This Selected Issues paper explores the determinants of Greece’s potential output, an exercise that could shed light on its current cyclical position, as well as on its medium-term growth prospects. To that end, a production function is estimated, with capital and labor as factors of...

Greece’s deep recession has continued unabated, with the economy struggling to gain traction against domestic political instability and weak external conditions. Stronger internal devaluation is now under way, reflecting the interaction of labor market liberalization with the already weak...

In this analysis the interdependence between foreign exchange markets and stock markets for selected accession and cohesion countries is discussed. This includes basic theoretical approaches. Monthly data for the nominal stock market indices and nominal exchange rates are used, where Ireland,...