"Government of Alexander Papagos 1952"

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The Government of Alexander Papagos 1952 (November 1952 – October 1955) was formed after the victory of the Greek Alarm party in the 16 November 1952 election. Due to the change in the electoral system, the Greek Alarm managed to gain a large majority in the House and thus rule unobstructed for nearly four years, a period unprecedented for the country's until then political life.
Having as a priority the economic reconstruction of the country, and with the main lever, the Minister of Coordination, Spyridon Marquezine, sought the consolidation of public finances, and the development of the Greek economy by strengthening healthy competition between businesses, and regulating the rules of the free market. In this direction, early 1953 the government announced the merger of the private "Bank of Athens" with the "National Bank", creating the largest credit institution in Greece, which would promote the development of the country according to government plans. In the spring of 1953, the drachma was famously underestimated by 50% as well as the full liberalisation of imports.

The devaluation of the drachma was announced by Markezin through a radio message to the Greek people: "I declare to the Greek people a heavy decision of the government. From this hour, the official relationship of the price of the drachma to the dollar is set at $30,000 a dollar. Similarly, the honors of all other foreign currencies are determined. This decision is taken by unanimous opinion of the Monetary Committee and the International Monetary Fund. “

This move, as indicated by the Minister of Coordination in a speech to the House in November 1953 had proved to be extremely beneficial for the balance of external payments, the increase in industrial production, exports, foreign exchange income from the undeclared resources, and the increase in private deposits to banks. Markezin's claims also confirmed the financial data given by the Bank of Greece for 1953: GDP growth by 14.5%, growth in industrial production by 12.6%, increase in undeclared resources from $74.4 million in 1952, to $107.8 million in 1953, increase in exports, decrease in the trade deficit.
Many historians nevertheless insist on the view that the government's economic measures did not help the large masses of the population, but only entrepreneurs. An example of this perspective is the opinion of Professor Angelopoulos who wrote that "...the wages of civil servants and a large category of private employees are now inadequate and do not ensure basic survival, while the large mass of the people lack the basic means in terms of food, clothing and housing." According to the data provided by the Ministry of Welfare in early 1954, 2,420,535 people