ATHENS (MNI) – Greek Finance Minister George Papakonstantinou said
he expects the recession this year to be milder than previously forecast
and reiterated that public finances are moving in the expected
direction.
“I believe our economy can recover quicker than we expected,” the
minister said in a interview with a Greek magazine. “The first few
months of the year point to a moderate recession of 2.5% compared to our
projection of -4.0% for the full year, despite the very big reduction in
public consumption.”
By contrast, EMU and IMF officials in their report released late
Tuesday said they had no evidence that the economy will recovery faster
than expected and thus no reason to revise their forecasts either up or
down. They said the recession was expected to unfold in the coming
months.
Asked whether government might call early elections this fall
because of the strong social opposition to planned pension and labor
market reforms, Papakonstantinou replied: “I believe that the mandate
the government received last October is a for a full four years in
office and that this mandate will stand as long as the government works
hard to pull the country out of the slump.”
a_papamiltiadou@hotmail.com
[TOPICS: M$X$$$,MT$$$$,MFX$$$,MGX$$$]