Latest World Bank Doing Business report – the full picture on Greece?

December 2015

The new report, Doing Business 2016: Measuring Regulatory Quality and Efficiency, shows Greece down two places (from 58th to 60th) in terms of overall ease of doing business, and down three places (from 63rd to 66th) in terms of the country’s tax regime.

The report does not, however, take account of forthcoming regulatory reform – an area likely to have significant implications for the country’s standing over the next 12 months.

Stavros Papantonis, Managing Partner, Action Auditing, Athens, points out that parliamentary approval of the Recapitalisation Bill in October (likely to result in easier refinancing for businesses and entrepreneurs), coupled with new regulation allowing companies to reschedule tax, social security, and other debts to government over a period of up to 100 instalments, should lead to a considerable improvement in the country’s business environment over the next 12 months.

“The World Bank Doing Business report provides an excellent snapshot of a country’s standing against its peers – but in directly addressing the cash-flow issues front of mind for all Greek businesses currently, these two very proactive reforms are likely deliver real improvements in the medium term.”