Foreign investors are returning to Greece as fears of an exit from the eurozone recede, signaling a possible turning point in the country’s three-year-old debt crisis, according to Wall Street Journal.

It said a steady trickle of foreign money pumped €109 million into Greek stocks in the last six months of 2012, followed by an additional €27.6 million in January.

The money helped raise Greece’s stocks 33.4 percent last year. This year also posted an additional gain of 10.51 percent to 1003.32, although it remains well off its high of 6355 reached more than 12 year ago, the journal explained.

At the same time, bond yields sunk to levels last seen in late 2010, which allowed Greek companies to sell bonds for the first time in three years.

All of these signal a dramatic change from six months ago, when some claimed that “the Greek economy had finally hit the bottom.”

The journal emphasized the fact that the general government deficit in 2012 was reduced in line with targets to €12.9 billion from €19.7 billion the previous year.

“We have been investors in Greece, and we continue to look at Greece as a source of investment opportunities,” said Richard Deitz, president of VR Capital Group, a hedge fund specializing in distressed assets.

However, the journal still warns the possibility of social and political tensions erupting anew, making the situation worse again.

Indeed, the economy is expected to drop by 4.5 percent this year and unemployment is already a staggering 27 percent. Making worse, risks in other Eurozone countries including Italy and Spain are among the bigger worries. There are also broader concerns over the economic condition of the 17-nation bloc, the journal warned.

However, investors appear focused on the good news, it emphasized. Greek regulators lifted a 17-month ban on short-selling in stocks, put in place during the depths of the crisis to make it harder for investors to bet on falling share prices.

Multinational companies are also eyeing Greek for investment. U.S.-based tobacco Philip Morris International is building a €3 million production line to meet the needs of the Greek market. Consumer goods giant Unilever is transferring the production of 110 products to Greece mostly from other Western European countries, the journal added.

“We believe that investing now will pay dividends when the crisis finally ends,” says Spyros Dessyllas, chief of executive of Elais-Unilever Hellas. “Greece is now much more attractive to foreign direct investment.”

Source: Yonhap News (Feb. 25, 2013)

** This is the translation of a Korean article.