Pact between Greece and its creditors deserves a chance

HARDLY was the ink dry after the agreement on July 17 between Greece and its creditors before columnists, commentators, economists and politicians jumped to far reaching conclusions: Greece would never make it. Leaving the euro (Grexit) is certain. This is the beginning of the end for the eurozone. Germany is bullying the other members of the eurozone and by throwing its weight around, dooming the whole European edifice to collapse. The engine driving European integration since 1952 - the Franco-German axis - has come to an abrupt end primarily because of German policies.

What have been written so far reminds one of the fairy tale Alice in Wonderland with the Queen of Hearts saying "sentence first, verdict afterwards". Why not opt for common sense and wait until signs indicating the effect of the measures are available? Over the next six to 12 months, we will know more about the performance or non-performance of the Greek economy, more about the political reverberations among other things because of the coming election in Spain, and have a clue of the Franco-German relationship not the least how they tackle challenges such as the British request for new terms of EU-membership, and the unstable situation in Ukraine. We will also have a better basis for prognoses concerning public opinion, attitude of politicians and economic policy of the eurozone.

The Greek economy is weak, definitely, but at the end of 2014 the growth rate was respectable and surpluses on the primary public budget and current account pointed to a better future. It is not a spring chicken, but the effort to turn the economy around may not be insurmountable.