The cost of managing the migrant crisis in Greece will exceed a previous estimate of €600mn ($670mn) as more and more refugees are forced to remain in the country, Bank of Greece Governor Yannis Stournaras said yesterday.
More than 41,000 migrants are stranded in Greece, their plans to travel north blocked by border shutdowns throughout the Balkans. Last month a central bank source said €600mn would cover rescue operations, shelters and repatriation.
“That estimate was based on the presumption that Greece was only a transit nation, but if now we have to host a large number of refugees, this estimate will have to be revised,” Stournaras told Italy’s Il Sole 24 Ore newspaper.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said last week that Greece would need help to deal with the strain that migrants were putting on its economy.
Greece also expects to talk about debt relief at the spring meeting of the International Monetary Fund in April, Stournaras said.
Athens has pledged to cut pension spending by 1$ of GDP this year and reach a primary surplus of 3.5% by 2018.
Stournaras said Greece’s eurozone partners had promised debt relief in a meeting last year if Greece met its obligations.
“This promise has not yet been fulfilled,” the central banker said. “We hope our partners and the IMF are able to fulfil the promise because it was not only a promise, but an agreement.”
Eurozone finance ministers acknowledged last week that a debate on debt relief was coming up soon, but said Greece should first implement pension and tax reforms, set up an independent revenue agency and deal with non-performing loans.
A child in a survival blanket stands among migrants queuing for hot soup in a makeshift camp at the Greek-Macedonian border, near the Greek village of Idomeni, where thousands of refugees and migrants are stranded by the Balkan border blockade.
