Greece least competitive country in the EU

Greece dropped another six places in the Global Competitiveness Report published by the World Economic Forum on Wednesday, and now finds itself 96th out of 144 countries as daily Kathimerini writes. The report suggested that Greece is the least competitive economy in the European Union, after sliding 30 places in the last six years. This is attributed to the country's unstable macroeconomic environment (which is the worst in the world), insufficient access to the capital markets, lack of investor confidence in the country's prospects, corruption, the state's inefficiency and the inflexible labor market. Still, Greece boasts skilled human resources and reforms could bring about a fast recovery in the coming years, the report says. For countries like Greece to improve their competitiveness, the report recommends the recapitalization of banking systems, the proper management of public finances and the promotion of structural reforms aimed at increasing productivity and liberalizing markets and services, particularly in the domains of education, new technologies and innovation.