Greece, devastated ten years ago, is thriving again.

In Athens, at his office, Paris Skouros pointed towards the sky. Over the past six months, four skyscrapers have appeared here, built by Greek and international builders for use as tourist rentals and foreign investments in real estate and company offices. Far beyond the horizon, several more new buildings can be seen.

The financial crisis nearly destroyed his company, Skouros & Sons, which manufactures elevators. Years of harsh austerity imposed by international creditors halted construction. But now, economic recovery has arrived.

“During the crisis, we just wanted to survive,” said Mr. Skouros as the sounds of a hammer striking metal echoed in his workshop. “Now we are profitable, and the business is so strong that we lack the workforce to meet the demand.”

With a mountain of debt that she couldn't pay off, Greece nearly destroyed the eurozone ten years ago. Today, it is one of the fastest-growing economies in Europe. Credit rating agencies have revised their assessment of Greek debt positively, opening the doors for major foreign investors.

The economy is growing twice as fast as the average in the Eurozone, and although unemployment remains high at 11 percent, it is the lowest in the last decade. Tourists are returning in large numbers, fueling a construction boom and creating new jobs. Multinational companies like Microsoft and Pfizer are investing. And banks that were nearly bankrupt are once again issuing loans, which is positively impacting the country's economy.

However, Greece still faces risks. Its debt stands at 166 percent of its economy, which is one of the highest rates in the world. Greek banks still hold a significant amount of non-performing loans, exceeding the European average. The suffering from austerity is still fresh for some people, exacerbated by persistently high inflation caused by Russia's war in Ukraine.

The country's president, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, a business-oriented conservative, was re-elected in June after being credited with stimulating recovery through tax cuts and debt reduction. The government has reduced bureaucratic barriers for businesses and increased the minimum wage. The country is even repaying international loans ahead of schedule.

Mr. Mitsotakis welcomed Greece's return to the favor of investors. "I will never allow the trauma of national bankruptcy to happen again," he said the day after the latest rating upgrade.

Greece became the center of the debt crisis in Europe after the Wall Street crash in 2008. Ireland, Portugal, and Cyprus were also forced to seek international loans. However, Greece found itself in the most difficult situation, requiring three financial aid packages from 2010 to 2015 totaling 320 billion euros, accompanied by bitter austerity measures. Household incomes and pensions were cut, the economy shrank by a quarter, and hundreds of thousands of businesses closed along with banks. By 2013, nearly a third of Greeks were unemployed.

“We would have preferred a softer austerity, but these measures have become Greece's contribution to saving itself,” said Yannis Stournaras, former finance minister, who is now the head of the Greek central bank and a member of the board of the European Central Bank. “Greece had to take these difficult steps to survive.”

In 2018, Greece exited strict fiscal controls of aid programs, and the government's actions since then have garnered the trust of the European Union. In 2021, Brussels politicians approved an additional 30 billion euros for climate investments in Greece, as part of broader efforts to support EU economies following the lockdowns due to Covid-19.

This month, the global credit rating agency DBRS Morningstar, recognized by the European Central Bank, upgraded Greece's debt rating to investment grade, which opens up opportunities for pension funds and other large investors to purchase bonds issued by the government. This will reduce borrowing costs for households, businesses, and the government following the ECB's interest rate hikes to combat inflation.

Moody's, one of the largest credit rating agencies, upgraded Greece's debt rating by two notches on September 15, coming close to investment grade, citing "deep structural changes" in the country's economy, finances, and banking system.

Investors are actively investing funds. Microsoft is building a data center worth 1 billion euros east of Athens.

More than 10 million tourists flooded Greece this summer, despite a series of wildfires, bringing in an expected revenue of over 21 billion euros. Construction is actively underway both on the mainland and on popular Greek islands, thanks to the growing demand for hotels, rentals through Airbnb, and a program that allows foreigners to obtain a residence visa in EU countries if they purchase property in Greece for at least 500,000 euros.

Such activity supports the business in which Mr. Skouros works. The company he runs with his brother John was founded by their father in 1965. When orders dried up during the economic crisis, they continued to service the already installed elevators in Athens. Now they have orders for the installation of elevators in 10 buildings, compared to having no orders during the crisis and lockdowns due to Covid. With a cost of about 20,000 euros per elevator, the company is profitable again. Mr. Skouros has raised salaries by 10 percent and hired five more employees. He needs more technicians, but in a rapidly developing economy, he can no longer find willing candidates.

The recovery is happening so quickly that Mr. Skouros is concerned about the possibility of a real estate bubble forming. Therefore, he is avoiding new high-rise constructions, which he believes may fail, and is focusing on small residential buildings with a solid financial foundation.

For others, the economic recovery has not yet been able to heal the wounds inflicted by austerity.

Dmitris Mitrofinakis, 67, is struggling to recover after the closure of his home goods store, which he ran for over 40 years, spending his personal savings during the crisis to save it. When he retired in 2015, his pension was cut from €2400 to €1300 a month.

“The austerity imposed on Greece was too harsh,” says Mr. Mitrofanakis, who lives in a modest apartment with his wife in a working-class neighborhood, adding that he has little money left at the end of the month.

He sees signs of economic improvement. "When you look around, people are working more and earning more," says Mr. Mitrofanakis. "But many other people have not recovered," he adds, noting that many of his retired neighbors are struggling at the end of the month.

Rula Skouros, a hotel manager in the city of Tripoli, does not expect that the upgrade of Greece's investment rating will improve her life. "It might affect those who work in banks or on the stock exchange, but not me," says Ms. Skouros, who is not related to Paris Skouros.

Her salary has always been around the minimum, she says. But with the crazy inflation at the gas station and in the grocery store, economic improvement "means nothing if you can't afford gas and food," says Ms. Skouros.

In his latest speech, Mr. Mitsotakis acknowledged the challenges and promised to distribute the benefits of recovery more widely. "We are not hiding behind the investment rating, saying: 'We have achieved an important goal - let's switch to autopilot,'" he said.

His government announced the goal of raising the monthly minimum wage to €950 by the end of the four-year term, after it was increased to €780 in April. Salaries in the public sector will also rise for the first time after a 20 percent cut during the crisis to pay off Greece's debts.

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