Greece’s return to high economic growth rates in 2024 will depend, mostly, on the de-escalation of a geopolitical crisis and of energy prices, the continuation of a tourism growth, implementation of investment plans and the condition of Eurozone economy, Christina Papakonstantinou, vice-governor of the Bank of Greece said on Thursday.

Addressing a conference on professional insurance, Papakonstantinou noted that challenges facing the Greek economy were not linked exclusively with the current situation, but to structural problems such as the ageing population. He said that the number of professional insurance funds grew from 3 to 28 in the period 2004-2021, with the majority of them created in the last six years, but Greece still lags behind compared with other Eurozone countries. Papakonstantinou said that the limitations in setting up multi-employers funds are obstructing workers in small- and medium-sized enterprises and self-employed people from reaping the benefits of professional insurance.