STUDY Defining a Growth Strategy for Greece Wishful Thinking or a Realistic Prospect? JENS BASTIAN October 2015 n Since 2010 Greece has been trapped in a depression-like economic slump with soaring unemployment. The third programme includes further fiscal austerity requirements, while seeking to introduce more flexibility in terms of balance of adjustment and the implementation timetable. n It is increasingly clear, compared with other countries in the euro area, that any definition of a growth strategy for Greece is subject to a set of economic preconditions, institutional parameters and policy narratives that currently do not apply to any other member state. n Given that the future of Greece’s membership in the euro currency union is repeatedly called into question, with capital controls in the banking sector in place since the end of June 2015 and its working relationship with its euro area peers is defined by the need to rebuild trust from scratch, then any growth prospects for the country’s real economy are under a dark cloud of uncertainty. n The Greek growth agenda presented in this contribution consists of a mixture of sectoral and horizontal policy interventions. The former include sectors such as tourism, energy and agriculture. The latter focuses on taxation, the operational business environment and investment capacity, public as well as private. n Given the track record of implementing a reform agenda over the past five years, under the auspices of international creditors, an effective monitoring mechanism for the execution of such policy interventions is crucial, but remains politically fraught.