eKathimerini — Greek exporters are quite concerned about the euro’s significant rise against the dollar and other key foreign currencies since March, fearing Greek commodities could start to lose the favourable momentum that took both time and effort to build.
Greek exports to the US started to slow last year and exports to the entire American continent posted a year-on-year drop in the first quarter of 2017 and more than half of the value of Greek exports are to countries within the European Union representing a 38% of the volume of exports.
“We have faced similar situations in the past. We are monitoring developments. However, if the strengthening of the euro continues there will be interventions by eurozone countries whose exports are high in volume and value, such as Germany,” Christina Sakellaridi, the head of the Panhellenic Exporters Association, told Kathimerini.
Out of the dollar exports 72.5 percent was for petroleum byproducts, 16.2 percent industrial commodities and 11.3 percent agricultural products.
Greece faces the greatest competition from Turkey, particularly in the primary sector. Exporters note that the further strengthening of the euro against other currencies, combined with the subsidies Ankara hands out to its agricultural producers, is likely to increase pressure on Greek exports. A case in point is fish farming, as the Turkish government subsidizes the cost of transporting fish exports to the US.
