Greece’s Minister of the Economy and Finance speaks at LSE

Kyriakos Pierrakakis, a computer and political scientist currently serving as Greece’s Minister of the Economy and Finance, visited LSE last week to deliver a lecture on the key challenges shaping the country’s future.

The event was chaired by Vassilis Monastiriotis, the Eleftherios Venizelos Chair of Contemporary Greek Studies at LSE as well as Professor in Political Economy in the school’s European Institute. It was co-hosted by the LSE Centre for Research on Contemporary Greece and Cyprus, the Hellenic Observatory and the Hellenic Bankers Association (UK).

Drawing on his impressive reform record in his previous posts as Minister for Digital Governance and Minister of Education, Pierrakakis framed the discussion around the role of past reforms and new policies in supporting Greece’s move from public debt and inflation to economic resilience and competitiveness.

He began by acknowledging that despite a renewed momentum in the country’s economy, which is now producing fiscal surpluses, deescalating its debts “in the quickest manner possible”, and limiting unemployment, there are challenges to be met and people to be supported.

”It shows that effectively the accumulated experience of the Greek people and what they suffered in [the decade of the financial crisis] metabolised into policy reform”, he said, adding that a key lesson has been to not “repeat the core mistakes of the previous generations”.

Pierrakakis highlighted the state’s successful integration of digital technologies and investment to GDP, but emphasised the need to start building on productivity, cross-border mergers and acquisitions and industrial policy at the European level. He further recognised the need for self-evident policy changes within Greece, such as in the silver economy and education sector, to create a competitive advantage and mindset shift. On top of this, he stressed, there is a growing importance of instrumentalising technology when designing policy—though this is more about the management of tools than the creation of them.

“Our goal as a country is to be in a positive feedback loop: we want to have positive fiscal balances and positive growth rates. We still have room to cover to converge. We have not fully changed it, but are in the process of [altering] our economic model. At the end of the day, if we keep it along the same path, I am optimistic that Greece can be not only a story of rebound or comeback, but a story of renewal.”

Towards the end of the conversation, Pierrakakis offered insight into Greece’s digital ambition. While smaller projects requiring minimal funding, for instance the creation of a platform on power of attorney, have been achieved, bigger undertakings such as the digitisation of the cadaster are still under process. The goal, he says, is to offer a digital alternative to all the public services of the land.

The session ended with a dynamic Q&A, covering topics including Greek politics, international institutions, and economic policy.

For a YouTube recording of the event, please click here.