European Commission envisages a GDP growth of 3.5% in 2022 and 3.1% in 2023 (from 4.9% and 3.5% respectively) Credit: Adam Jones, CC BY 2.0The European Commission revised its forecasts for the Greek economy downwards on Monday, envisaging a GDP growth of 3.5% in 2022 and 3.1% in 2023 (from 4.9% and 3.5% respectively in its winter forecasts made in February).
In a report on Greece, the Commission said that following a rapid recovery from the pandemic and a very promising start in the first months of the year, the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine has blurred the outlook for Greece.
Economic growth is expected to slow but to remain stable, mainly due to the full recovery of tourism. It noted that high inflation was expected to burden households’ real available income but government support measures were expected to partly compensate for this burden. The European Commission expects Greece to present a primary surplus in 2023.
The Commission report said that turmoil in global energy markets was expected to increase domestic inflationary pressure and to burden households’ real available income, adding that increased risk aversion along with supply bottlenecks could delay the start of new investment plans, but the Greek economy was expected to benefit from the implementation of projects funded by the Recovery and Resilience Fund.
Exports were likely to continue growing, although at a slower pace compared with previous estimates because of an expected economic slowdown in the EU and the global economy.
