When the UK had to go cap in hand to the IMF in the seventies in order to borrow to survive, it was North Sea Oil that helped the nation.
Notwithstanding the agreed EU loan package, Greece too can at last see a light at the end of the tunnel with the discovery of natural gas and oil.
Currently eight of the world's largest seismic survey companies are bidding for exploration. Two will be awarded contracts by end April to begin exploratory drilling before the end of 2012. Substantial hydrocarbon deposits have been identified in the Ionian Sea, near Corfu and another south of Crete.
It is anticipated Greece will begin earning a revenue stream from these deposits prior to 2020.
Greeks are lazy good for nothings!
For nearly six years Greece has had to endure the longest recession in history. Unemployment stands at over 20%. Savage austerity measures have slashed wages and pensions in an effort to reduce sovereign debt. Despite this the Greek people are struggling to move forward, notwithstanding the UK media purporting to show Greeks as lazy good for nothings.
Research carried out by the OECD - the respected Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, has found this image of Greeks to be untrue.
Statistics by the OECD have revealed the average German works a total of only 1,390 hours per year. In Spain it's 1,654 hours while in Portugal it's 1,719, but the average Greek works a massive 2,119 hours per year!
The ONS - the UK government's Office for National Statistics confirm that the average worker in Britain only works 1,888 hours per year.
That means the average Greek works more than six weeks a year longer than his counterpart in the UK.
Greece sees the light
With an abundance of sunshine, Greece is seeking to export power generated by solar panels before 2015.
In the coming weeks the Energy Minister, George Papaconstantinou has confirmed Greece will adopt legislation to simplify planning and aims to connect its first 300 megawatt plant by the end of next year as part of the Greek Helios solar-energy project.
Named after the ancient God of the Sun, Helios is a 20 billion investment aimed at installing 10 gigawatts of solar panels in Greece by 2050. Based on current solar energy prices in Germany the project has the potential for generating a revenue of 80 billion euros for Greece over the next 25 years. The electricity produced will be exported to other European Union nations and will also help Greece meet the EU objectives for renewable energy targets in Europe and low carbon economies by 2020.
Greece is doing great!
With the UK sovereign debt standing in excess of 1 trillion pounds - and still not being markedly reduced - Greece should be applauded for the steps it has taken to redress its sovereign debt.
Did you know, with current sovereign debt and borrowing needed to prop up major banks, plus the debt of pension funds such as the Post Office to be addressed - the UK borrowing percentage of GDP is the same as Greece!
While the UK has been dilly dallying, savage austerity measures have been introduced in Greece and an EU Taskforce established to support the implementation of structural reforms to modernise the country's bureaucracy.
So what has that accomplished?
Over two years Greece has achieved an annual rate of fiscal consolidation averaging 4.2% of GDP - the highest level recorded in the developed world over several decades.
Greece ranks number two in terms of the degree of adjustment happening in its economy during 2009 - 2011, according to figures released by Euro Plus Monitor.
The stereotype of Greece criticised as the lame, lazy duck of the EU is now no longer true.
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