Number of firms filing for bankruptcy in Greece drops

By Anestis Dokas

The number of companies that filed for bankruptcy in Greece last year declined by 5.5 percent from 2012, according to ICAP Group data released on Tuesday by the Federation of Business Information Services (FEBIS) concerning Western Europe.

While the number of companies in Western Europe going bankrupt posted a 1.1 percent rise compared with the year before, there were only 392 firms going through the process in Greece, compared with 415 in 2012. However it must be noted that in Greece – where the economy contracted by 3.9 percent last year – only a small number of corporate bankruptcies are conducted through the formal procedure provided for by law.

The report says it remains to be seen whether the drastic measures taken in eurozone periphery countries – including Greece – have contributed to the improvement in their competitiveness and that they can in fact respond to market pressures.