Economy of Greece Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC). The country joined what is now the European Union in 1981. In 2001 Greece adopted the euro as its currency, replacing the Greek drachma at an exchange rate of 340.75 drachmae per euro. Greece is a member of the International Monetary Fund and of the World Trade Organization, and ranked 34th on Ernst & Young's Globalization Index 2011. World War II (1939-1945) devastated the country's economy, but the high levels of economic growth that followed from 1950 to 1980 have been called the Greek economic miracle. From 2000 Greece saw high levels of GDP growth above
History of the euro the banks in June. Indeed, the euro came to be seen as a safe haven, as countries outside it such as Iceland fared worse than those with the euro. Iceland subsequently applied to the EU to get the benefit of using a larger currency with the support of the ECB. However, with the risk of a default in Greece and other members in late 2009–10, eurozone leaders agreed to agree provisions for bailing out member states who could not raise funds (triggered for Greece in April 2010). This was a u-turn on the EU treaties which rule out any bail