Greece will make a €6.9 billion early debt repayment in June that will push its debt-to-GDP ratio below Italy's for the first time, ending its status as the Eurozone's most indebted nation relative to economic output — a symbolic milestone that carries significant weight for a country that needed three international bailouts to avoid bankruptcy.
Austerity left a lasting legacy in the form of low employment rates, brain drain, capital and capital destruction (…).
Reforms (…) contained the liberalisation of wage bargaining, transition from sector-level to firm-level collective agreements; easing dismissals, (…) extending the use of fixed-term contracts, reducing overtime premia, extending part-time shift work (or partial lay-off). (…)
During much of the crisis, (…) long-term unemployed
represented about 70% of all unemployed, and less than 20% of all unemployed were receiving an unemployment allowance, (…) excluding long-term unemployed, self-employed and the young. (…)
Far-reaching privatisations were implemented towards the end of the programs, for debt reduction and attracting foreign investment, including plots of land, airports, ports, and utility companies. source
It’s been tough: