Under pressure from International Monetary Fund (IMF), Greece and other European Union countries trying to resolve Greece’s debt crisis agreed in Brussels on July 13 on new austerity measures to solve the staring problem. The Greek debt crisis started in late 2009 when Greek announced that its budget deficit would be 12.9 per cent of GDP, more than four times the EU’s three per cent limit. The crisis had started much earlier in 2001 as Greece adopted the Euro as its currency. Similar to other Eurozone countries, Greece benefited as interest rates became lower, and investment capital and loans started flowing in. However, the Greek government misreported the government debt levels and deficits, and when finally it admitted the lie, other Eurozone countries and International Monetary Fund tried in vain to bail it out. On June 30, Greece failed to repay its loan to IMF (the first developed country to fail). Things may turn for better after Greece Parliament’s passing a second batch of crucial bailout reforms on July 22.
