FRANKFURT (MNI) – Greece’s public sector deficit for 2009 was 13.6%
of GDP, considerably higher than the 12.7% previously estimated by the
Greek government, Eurostat, the statistical arm of the European
Commission reported Thursday.
Eurostat said Greece’s deficit figure could be revised an
additional 0.3 to 0.5 point in the months ahead as Eurostat investigates
what it considers to be faulty Greek fiscal data. An EU official said
any revision is “likely to be upward.” He stressed that “we can’t be
more precise until we’ve clarified everything.” He prediced that this
will be “by the summer.”
While Greek Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou had previously
hinted that the deficit might be slightly above the previous government
estimate of 12.7%, the notable upward revision may spark fresh market
concerns.
The EU official said that the fresh revision did not come as a
surprise. “The understanding of both parties was that what was received
was a forecast and that there was uncertainty,” he said. “When the new
Greek government came in they had to clarify a lot of things.”
The official said that Goldman Sachs swaps aimed at concealing
Greek government debt were also “not in the numbers yet.”
Although the next official release of deficit figures is due in the
autumn, the EU official said the Commission would consider publishing
new information on Greece when the outstanding issues were clarified.
–Frankfurt newsroom +49 69 72 01 42; Email: jtreeck@marketnews.com
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