Greek leaders see year of hope and economic growth in 2017

Greek leaders on Saturday expressed confidence that the new year will be a year of hope and economic growth for the debt ridden country after seven years of hardships.

"In 2017 we can and we must regain hope and optimism," Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos said in his New Year Eve message.

He urged for more support to the people most-affected by the debt crisis as well the refugee- migrant crisis.

The Greek President called for the replacement of the "current austerity policies which lead to dead ends" with strategies which can fix fiscal indexes and ensure both sustainable economic development and social cohesion.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras outlined his government's achievements in 2016.

"We stabilized the Greek economy, we entered at last positive growth rates, we reduced unemployment rates by 3 percent... With hard work we exceeded the bailout program's goals," he said.

"We aspire that 2017 will be the year our country will take the great leap forward, the year confidence in the Greek economy and stability will be strengthened," Tsipras said. Enditem