Top tax collector in Greece faces task of restoring confidence

Nikos Chrysoloras & Eleni Chrepa

Katerina Savvaidou, nominated Greece’s top tax collector, has her job cut out for her.

The Supreme Court lawyer, university lecturer and PricewaterhouseCoopers manager was named late Monday night by Greece’s finance ministry to replace Haris Theoharis, who was ousted after he pursued claims against 300 high-net-worth individuals. His exit raised concern about the country’s determination to push through tough economic fixes.

In a nation nagged by decades of tax evasion, Savvaidou faces the challenge of showing she’s up to the task of taking unpopular measures to fill the coffers of Europe’s most-indebted country. Her appointment comes against the backdrop of record- low euro-area interest rates and a flood of funds into Greece from yield-hungry investors, taking market pressure off the government for a much-needed economic overhaul.

“Domestic reforms still need to reach deeper and this is not a government machine that can operate well without firm and consistent leadership,” said Kevin Featherstone, a professor of Greek Studies at the London School of Economics. “Greece is still between a rock and a hard place.”

The Greek economy remains in the doldrums after six consecutive years of recession that wiped out about a quarter of total output and left more than half of the country’s youth without jobs. Unemployment stands close to 27 percent and public debt is at over 175 percent of gross domestic product in 2013, even after the biggest restructuring in history.

That hasn’t stopped the 11-million strong Mediterranean nation from luring investors. In April, Greece, which triggered the European debt crisis in 2009, returned to international markets after a...