TIMELINE AND REASONS
TIMELINE
2001: Greece officially joined Eurozone
It started in 1999 when Greece belonged to the EU but could not use Euro because the Greek economy
was less stable than other countries in the bloc. The conditions for joining the Eurozone are the standard
debt / GDP ratio of 60% while Greece’s debt accounts for 97% of their GDP. Greece has 2 options:
reduce spending or give up the Eurozone. But they chose the third way of data magic to achieve their
official goal of joining the Eurozone
2004: The most expensive Olympics at that time
With the eurozone ID card in hand, Greece freely borrowed large sums of money to spend heavily on
social services. Typically until mid-2004, Greece spent 9 billion euros to make this Olympics the most
expensive Olympics at that time. However, the works built after that were almost unused and deteriorated,
leaving the country immersed in huge debts. By that time, Greece’s debt / GDP ratio was 107%. This
Olympics is also considered to be the direct cause pushing Greece into the public debt crisis that persists
until today.
2009: Greece was downgraded in credit rating
All good things must come to an end. World economic crisis in 2008 made Greek creditors also fell into
difficulties and simultaneously claimed debt, nor any country could lend more, so Greece was forced to
