I will mainly focus on financial issues, as I believe this is where the ECB’s perspective is of particular relevance. Challenges for Greece at the start of the third programme What were the challenges facing Greece in summer 2015 when the programme was negotiated?
After a severe and long recession, which started back in 2009, the long-awaited rebound of the Greek economy finally got under way in the second half of 2014. But renewed uncertainty and the lack of any prospect of continued financial assistance led to a worsening of the economic environment and of sovereign creditworthiness in early 2015.