Greece’s Ministry of National Economy and Finance published remarks by Minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis from a Deutsche Welle interview in Berlin, highlighting Greece’s fiscal rebalancing with primary surpluses, unemployment back to 2008 levels, and growth running above the euro area. He set out a policy objective of converging wages and incomes towards the European Union average and pointed to digital reform and higher investment as key parts of the ongoing economic transition. On convergence, he noted Greece moved from 62% of the EU average in 2019 to 70% currently. He also cited investment as a share of GDP rising from 14% in 2019 to an expected 17.7% under the 2026 budget, compared with a 21% EU average, while stressing that the pre-crisis economic model has not yet fully changed. The interview referenced discussions with Germany’s Vice-Chancellor and Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil on attracting additional German investment to Greece, and argued that major future challenges require EU-level responses through fora including the Eurogroup and ECOFIN. On Bulgaria’s upcoming euro area entry, he reiterated Greece’s support and said he has already discussed early operational challenges experienced by Greece at the start of the euro with his Bulgarian counterpart. Pierrakakis indicated plans to visit Sofia in early 2026 in connection with Bulgaria’s euro adoption and to discuss Greece’s digital reform experience with the German federal government following Germany’s creation of a Ministry of Digitalisation.

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