By N. Bellos
[email protected]
The EU Commission’s summer report has the Greek economy continuing to growth at a higher rate than the EU average, although warning that the recovering is fragile and entails risks.
The quarterly report was unveiled in Brussels on Wednesday, detailing the European economy’s total performance.
Specifically for Greece, the Commission revised, marginally downwards, its forecast for economic growth in 2019, saying it will hover at 2.1 percent. The previous forecast was 2.2 percent, made last May.
The forecast for 2020, at 2.2 percent, remains unchanged.
The Commission noted that Greek economic growth slowed in the first quarter of 2019, primarily due to a slackening of exports and a reduction in public investments. At the same time, the Commission foresees an increase in private consumption, primarily on the back of an abrupt allocation of a bonus for pensioners in the country in May by the previous Tsipras government.
Back in Athens, a report by the Foundation for Economic & Industrial Research (IOBE) include a more pessimistic forecast, saying GDP growth in Greece will only reach 1.8 percent for the year, down from a 1.9-percent forecast in the first quarter.
