Sawt Falasteen - Greek economy on rebound but many still struggling

The Athens resident only has about 150 euros ($170) to spare at the end of the month, and that is despite getting a good deal on rent and making a little more than minimum wage.

Many Greeks face similar challenges -- which is why Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is widely expected to announce new benefits in a keynote speech this weekend.

"I am responsible enough for what I make, but... everything is going up and up. And the amount we get paid is around the same each year," he said.

"Things look like they're getting better, but it doesn't seem like it," the 27-year-old told AFP.

Living standards in Greece remain low despite the Mediterranean country's substantial rebound which has the economy growing at two percent -- a higher rate than in much of Europe.

The reason for the two sides of the coin is that Greece has significant ground to make up after a near-decade economic crisis and pandemic recession.

The economy "is growing and all the right measures are improving, but starting from a very low basis," economist Nikos Vettas told AFP.

"Even if you have an increase now, this improvement is not enough to catch up," said Vettas, who heads the Greek foundation for economic and industrial research IOBE think-tank.

To further complicate matters, housing and food prices had gone up because of inflation, which only now is on its way down.

"The cost of living actually neutralised part of the increase in the wages that we had, and as a result the real incomes of many households are suffering," Vettas said.

Mitsotakis' conservative government -- which is dipping in the polls -- has blamed the high cost of living on soaring energy prices that followed the war in Ukraine.

His New Democracy party is currently polling at around 22 percent, a far cry from the 40.56 percent it won in national elections last year.

Mitsotakis is expected to announce a new round of benefits in the prime minister's annual economy speech in Thessaloniki this weekend.

- 'Life is so expensive' -

Last year, the country of just over 10 million people had the second lowest GDP per capita in purchasing power within the European Union.

Only Bulgaria fared worst, according to EU data agency Eurostat.

It also found that average annual income in Greece was half the European average in 2023.

And the Greek minimum wage is 830 euros, some 900 euros below that of France.

"So how are you supposed to live, if you have to rent a house with 500 euros?" asked Athens hairdresser Christina Massiou.

"Life is so expensive that you can't set aside money for emergencies," the 24-year-old added.

She and her friend Alexandra Siouti, who works at a PR agency, spoke from under a palm tree at a beach near Athens.

They had gone to relax and "escape from reality", Massiou said.

"I have seen the older generations say that things are getting better. For them maybe," Siouti, also 24, told AFP.

"But younger people don't have many opportunities here to start their life and invest in their dreams."

- No Switzerland or Sweden -

Last month, the economy ministry said household net disposable income had risen in recent years, putting Greece in 16th place in the European Union.

The data confirmed the "significant progress our country has achieved in the last five years", the ministry said in a statement.

But the ministry acknowledged that it was not cause for celebration or a reason to "underestimate the real difficulties that many of our fellow citizens face".

"It is obvious that Greece has not turned into Switzerland or Sweden," it said.

Vettas, the economist, noted that some sectors have fared better than others.

"We have witnessed in the last three or four years a sharp increase in the salaries of professions where they have some speciality, some expertise," he said.

"Either at the upper end or the lower end," Vettas added, giving the examples of computer scientists and construction workers.

But for those employed in a sector like hospitality -- a big industry in Greece -- "it's not easy to see how you're going to improve their position".

Giannichronis, the barista, said he was trying to remain zen about the economic situation, despite having to think about money all the time.

"I'm not furious because it wouldn't do me any good. Things are the way they are. We can't change much," he said.

What he can control is how to budget his own expenses and help his friends better manage theirs, he added.

"But if I was angry about it too, then I would start to lose myself and go crazy on the streets shouting... and I don't want that."

Z.AlNajjar--SF-PST