Pierrakakis: Greece has definitively left the crisis behind

June 30, 2026
Written by E.Tsiliopoulos

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Pierrakakis: Greece has definitively left the crisis behind

The lessons of the Greek crisis, the political significance of his election to the presidency of the Eurogroup, and the need for a stronger and more financially adequate Europe lie at the core of an interview given by Greek Minister of National Economy and Finance Kyriakos Pierrakakis to the French magazine L'Express and journalists Muriel Breinman and Thibault Marotte.

Pierrakakis described the Greek crisis as a traumatic but instructive experience, arguing that the country has now left behind the decade of collapse and entered a phase of stability, reforms and investment upgrading.

"We paid a very high price for populism," he told "L'Express", adding that "a substantial change in mindset has taken place. The perception that we should not remain stagnant has become established, and that we can move forward with the implementation of a large number of reforms," placing emphasis on investment, innovation, technology and tax evasion enforcement.

Shift in model and mindset

Referring to the Greek crisis experience, he noted that the country lost 25% of its GDP in a shock that, as he said, no one expected to last an entire decade. As a result, Greece had to rethink both its economic model and the functioning of its political system.

He stressed that the pre-crisis production model was largely consumption-driven and insufficiently based on innovation and exports.

He also pointed out that of the four eurozone countries that entered financial assistance programmes, three required only one programme, while Greece required three, which he said demonstrates that the political system failed to properly manage the crisis.

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