Greece's finance minister believes that the worst is over for his country. "There is definitely a glimmer of hope; light at the end of the tunnel", Yannis Stournaras said.
"We have managed to turn the economy around. From the markets, there's much more optimism. Deposits are coming back to banks, the government is paying its arrears to the private sector and there is a change in how Europe sees us. So all the leading indicators are positive. We are two-thirds of the way towards our target. So people can have hope."
The finance minister said that he thinks the bad times are coming to an end. "Towards the last quarter of 2013, we are going to have recovery", he said. He is adamant that growth will come next year, even if the economy contracts in 2013 by an estimated 4.5 per cent.
"Greece was forced to cut too far, too fast", he explained. "In hindsight, we should have placed more emphasis on structural reform and privatisations at the start. But we can't go back. There's no point crying over spilt milk. The eurozone was not prepared for the crisis."
A criticism often levelled at the much-despised political class here is that it is utterly divorced from the pain caused by austerity but the minister said that he understands very well.
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