Tim za socijalno uključivanje i smanjenje siromaštva

By the end of June, the Greek authorities will open 120 offices in which the citizens that have debts will able to get advice on how to resolve their issues; the first office will be opened this week near Athens. Greek debt which primarily comes from housing and consumer loans has increased during the last seven years to around EUR 20 billion. At the same time, the officials of the International Monetary Fund have warned the Euro Zone that the process of repaying debt should be facilitated because Greece and their creditors potentially stand to lose “more than they would have lost if they had accepted the reality in time”.

By the end of the year, 30 additional offices, kind of “hubs” in which citizens will receive advice and guidance will be opened. Thanks to EU funds the offices will be able to employ lawyers and economists.

Fotis Kormusis, the state official in charge of citizen assistance, said that the plan was for the offices to provide assistance to 40,000 people, while 1,800,000 would be able to receive help through an e-platform which would become operational on 28 February.

Private debt in Greece reached EUR 240 billion in 2016; this makes 133% of the GDP, 45% of unpaid debts are from companies. This debt is hindering the economic growth, and Greece has recently adopted the Law on the restructuring of bad debts.

Source: AFP, taken from www.euractiv.rs