Greece Almost Last on IMD’s 2017 Competitiveness Ranking

© Maria Theofanopoulou

The tedious negotiations between Greece and its international lenders as well as the continuation of capital restrictions have further taken a toll on the competitiveness of the country, which has dropped to 57th spot in the Swiss-based International Institute for Management Development (IMD) competitiveness ranking for 2017 among 63 countries.

Greece has continued its downward course in the rankings, losing one more spot in 2017, after dropping six ranks last year – a reflection of the insecurity and investment slowdown. The report presents data on 63 economies based on 260 indicators.

In terms of competitiveness, Greece ranked above Venezuela, Ukraine, Brazil, Mongolia and Argentina, and below Kazakhstan (32), Chile (35), Philippines (41), Indonesia (42), South Africa (53), Bulgaria (49) and Romania (50).

According to the IMD report, the Greek economy is showing the poorest performance in “Home Economy” now ranked 60th from 54th, “International Trade” now 40th from 34th, and “Tax Policy” now 59th from 55th.

Greece’s deteriorating position is also attributed to poor performance in the categories of “Economic Efficiency”, which dropped three rankings from last year to 61, “Government Efficiency” and “Infrastructure”.
According to the Federation of Industries of Northern Greece (FING), Greece’s position on the competitive listing is a message to the government to step up efforts towards the revival of the Greek economy and to design appropriate policies which will boost competitiveness of local businesses. This, FING says, can be achieved by accelerating privatization processes, boosting liquidity for private sector enterprises, planning and implementing an economic development program to ensure the sustainability of public finances, introducing measures that will effectively address the migration problem, and increasing domestic investment via Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs).