Her prospects global economythe fiscal implications of the slowdown in Greece, as well as the “consolidation” of the downward trajectory of the Greek debt index, rating agencies S&P and Fitch key challenges for assessing a country on its way to investment gradeand not elections. While the electoral process creates some uncertainty in the short term, as dual elections are expected to delay the formation of a new government, both houses believe that the next government will continue with reforms and pro-development policies. A new report from S&P — a company they have high hopes of being the first to give Greece an investment rating — highlights that the Greek economy will slow down, posting growth of 1.4% this year but surpassing it. the middle Eurozone thanks to a strong tourism sector and a relatively small percentage of energy and interest rate sensitive sectors in its economy.

However, as he emphasizes, it will remain subject to the influence of global economic conditions. According to S&P, the long-term challenges include how to offset the negative impact of population decline on economic growth by increasing employment in the economy, as well as continuing to reduce the budget deficit in the face of an economic downturn.

In the short term, he estimates that while the slowdown in growth and potential additional pressure on public spending ahead of the general election could prevent the government from hitting its fiscal balance target, this year’s budget deficit will narrow further, bringing public debt to a percentage of GDP at a distinct downward trajectory.

Specifically for the election, he says the outcome is not worrisome because, in his estimation, “ongoing debt relief and profit-returning programs on Greek bonds held by the ECB and euro area national central banks, as well as available Development Fund funds, will encourage the next government to continue implementing structural reforms.”

For its part, Fitch reiterated in a presentation on the Greek economy following Greece’s recent upgrade to one notch below investment grade that while the election cycle is likely to be long, the policy scope for this year will be down and drastic policy change unlikely, even if there will be a change of government. As Alex Muscatelli, the head of the Greek assessment chamber, noted, “elections in and of themselves are not an obstacle to a positive assessment movement.” However, he added that something like this – and therefore investment grade – is not possible in the near future. “Our outlook on Greece’s credit rating is stable, which means that there can be no further upgrade in the near term,” he explained.