German Officials To Visit Greece For Austerity Advice

In a stroke of irony unlikely to be lost in Greece, some 35 city-state Parliamentarians and other officials from Germany’s capital of Berlin are set to visit Athens this April to study the effects of austerity, reported Der Speigel, in the hopes of addressing the capital’s own massive budget deficit, which is one of the highest in the country.

In a stroke of irony unlikely to be lost in Greece, some 35 city-state Parliamentarians and other officials from Germany’s capital of Berlin are set to visit Athens this April to study the effects of austerity, reported Der Speigel, in the hopes of addressing the capital’s own massive budget deficit, which is one of the highest in the country.

Although Germany’s federal government has a reputation for being austere and fiscally responsible, its capital city, on the other hand, has seen its debt burden increase by five-folds to 63 billion euros ($84 billion) since reunification in 1990.

And while Berlin has managed to shrink its annual budget deficit in recent years, and has plans to balance its budget by 2016, it begrudgingly accepted nearly $4.4 billion in aid from other states last year; with lawmakers now hoping to learn from the Greeks on ways to trim their public budgets.

The trip, which has been dubbed “Learning from Greece Means Learning Victory,” will see Berlin officials tour Athens for four days, with the intent of “acquainting themselves with all the financially relevant issues of the city and the region.” Organisers say that they are trying to make the trip as inexpensive as possible, aware of the potential criticism of spending taxpayer money on a foreign trip to learn how to spend less money.

Greeks, of course, could not resist highlighting the irony of the situation, especially as many still blame German Chancellor Angela Merkel for espousing austerity measures, which have pushed nearly 20 percent of Greece’s population into poverty.

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“Even as German Chancellor Angela Merkel continues to pound for pay cuts tax hikes and slashed pensions as the answer to Greece’s economic problems, some German officials are planning to visit Athens to find out how the austerity she has backed is working,” wrote Andy Dabilis in the Greek Reporter.

“Many Germans have ridiculed Greeks as lazy and for having spendthrift ways, but Greece has been under austerity for nearly three years, affecting most of the populace except for the rich, politicians and tax evaders.”

[quote]“They may be in for a surprise when they visit Athens and see 25 percent of the stores boarded up on some major commercial streets, beggars and homeless and squatters and all the signs of a deep recession, the human costs beyond the numbers,” Dabilis added.[/quote]

Nevertheless, Berlin officials maintain hope that lessons could be learned from the Greeks.

Although Greece still possesses one of the highest budgetary shortfalls in the EU, it manage to shrink its deficit to 8.2 percent of gross domestic product in 2012 from 10.9 percent the year before. It also expects a primary budget surplus (which excludes payments of interest to bondholders) of 0.4 percent in 2013.

[quote]“For the visitors from Berlin, Athens may also offer a lesson in how not to implement austerity measures,” suggested TIME magazine.[/quote]

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