ATHENS – “Greece has made it. Greece has turned a page,” Greek Finance Minister Christos Staikouras said on Friday.

Addressing an Economist event in Athens, Staikouras said growth results looked to be higher than expected, with the European Commission envisaging an economic growth double the rate of the European average in 2022, and even higher in 2023.

The Greek FinMin said the composition of the country’s GDP has changed, and cited the European Commission as saying that Greece will lead EU member states in attracting investments in the 2022-2024 period, while it will also record strong growth in the export of high technology products.

He noted that the unemployment rate is falling to 2010 levels and employment is rising, while the banking sector has made huge progress by lowering non-performing loans, also registering an increase in deposits. On a fiscal level, he said that the Commission noted that Greece has achieved the most significant fiscal adjustment, while the country’s public debt shrank by 50 percentage points in three years and the government promoted and implemented a series of significant reforms.

It is of the outmost importance to remain on a prudent fiscal policy, Staikouras said, underlining that the public debt is sustainable and falling but remained high, while a big problem was the private debt of households and enterprises.

He reiterated the country’s seven priorities: strengthening liquidity in the real economy, continuing structural reforms, strengthening the banking sector, continuing efforts to reduce energy consumption and providing incentives for a new economic structure.