Many Greek businesses are too reluctant to invest, which would help Greece plug its investment gap, the latest survey by Grant Thornton on the expectations of local entrepreneurs for the next 12 months has shown.
Only four out of 10 companies expect to invest more in engineering equipment and just three out of 10 plan to spend on buildings and land. Moreover, Grant Thornton observes that although six in 10 enterprises expect a rise in revenue and profitability, “this optimism is not ultimately translated into a stronger willingness to invest.”
“We can and must move faster and more decisively in the investment sector, with reforms and an overall shift of the economy toward investment,” urged Eurobank Group CEO Fokion Karavias, speaking in the context of the eighth annual Growth Awards, which took place on Wednesday.
Referring to the statement of the EU’s deputy director-general for economic and financial affairs, Declan Costello, that Greece could record growth rates of even 6%, covering the lost ground of the crisis more quickly, Karavias underlined that “investments must be a national priority” and reiterated that achieving the goals of the Draghi report requires a 9% increase in investments each year until the end of the decade in real and not nominal terms. To do this, “it needs to become a goal of the political system,” he emphasized, explaining that “any fiscal space that is created must be led to encouraging investments.” Based on the Grant Thornton survey, four in 10 companies expect to increase their investments in sustainability and climate change issues. However, the vast majority of companies perceive ESG initiatives as marketing tools rather than substantive issues and only two in 10 companies see them as a means to gain a competitive advantage, reduce costs or increase their profitability.
Five in 10 companies are expected to request financing in the next 12 months and, as it turns out, it will be used mainly to cover working capital and secondarily for investments in fixed equipment and buildings.
Six out of 10 businesses also expect their production costs to rise in 2025, a trend that has continued since 2024, while two out of 10 state that the increase will exceed 10%.
