ATHENS: The impact of capital controls imposed by the Greek government at the end of June is still felt by Greek exporters.
According to October figures released by Greece’s statistical authority, capital controls hurt all categories of products.
The total value of exports in October came to 2.22 billion euros, down 12.5 percent from the same month last year. Fuel products excluded, the annual drop amounted to 2.3 percent or 37.8 million euros.
The blocking of the railway line by migrants at the Greece-Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia border since November 18 has created a lot of problems for train cargo that stalled to and from FYROM.
A total of 1,800 wagons — many of them carrying Greek exports — were immobilized for three weeks damaging further the export sector.
All main categories of exports except olive oil and machinery showed a drop in October, led by fuel products, food and drink, industrial and tobacco products.
In the first 10 months of the year the decline in exports amounted to 5.2 percent year-on-year (against 4.4 percent in the year to end-September), falling from 22.6 billion in 2014 to 21.5 billion euros in 2015, although when fuel is excluded there was 9.7 percent growth.
Head of the Panhellenic Exporters Association Christina Sakellaridi told Kathimerini that, “The data confirm the association’s estimates about the medium to long-term consequences of the imposition of capital controls on the outward-looking character of the Greek economy.”
