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Greece GDP Slows in Q3

Greece GDP Slows in Q3
Greece GDP Slows in Q3

Greece’s economy expanded for a third straight quarter in the July-to-September period but grew at a slower clip than it had in the previous quarter, driven by stronger tourism and higher government spending, statistics service ELSTAT said on Monday.

Seasonally adjusted data showed gross domestic product grew by 0.3% in the third quarter, down from an upwardly revised 0.8% in the April-to-June quarter, Reuters reported.

Data also showed annual growth decelerated to 1.3% pace from an upwardly revised 1.6% growth rate in the second quarter.

The economy’s gradual recovery after a deep recession that shrank it by 25% is boosting hopes that Greece will emerge successfully from years of bailouts in August next year, when its current aid program ends.

“Recovery continues to be mainly driven by consumption and services exports—tourism,” said Eurobank’s chief economist Platon Monokroussos. “On a less positive note, investment expenditure remains quite volatile without signaling a convincing recovery trend as of yet,” he said.

The government, which reached a technical agreement with creditors checking progress over reform commitments, has cut its annual growth projection to 1.6% from May’s 2.7%. The EU Commission in its autumn forecast also cut its projection, to 1.6 from 2.1%.

A main driver behind the rise in third-quarter economic output was a 5% rise in exports compared with the previous quarter. That was coupled with just a 0.4% increase in imports.

“For the year as a whole and assuming no significant revisions of past data, real GDP growth is expected to be higher than 1%,” Monokroussos said. “It will likely come close to 1.5%.”

 

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