Hospitals without syringes. Buses left to rust in depots because authorities can’t afford to fix them.

Scenes like this have become more associated with desperate Venezuelans this year than struggling Greeks living in one of the world’s most developed economies.

But while Athens has largely stayed out of the headlines, the warnings in an International Monetary Fund report this month lay bare the consequences of repeated rounds of belt tightening in a country where austerity has no end in sight. Even more surprising is the person delivering them.

The man once dubbed “the most hated man in Greece” is now warning that unless the country’s budget becomes more “growth-friendly”, the factors driving years of turmoil in Greece and three eurozone bail-outs will persist.