Indirect announcement about extension by Stournaras

Speaking at the Greek Entrepreneurship Conference organized by FEIR (FOUNDATION FOR ECONOMIC & INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH) and the Confucius Institute of Economics and Business, Finance minister Yannis Stournaras indirectly heralded the extension of the fiscal adjustment program by 2 years.

 

He talked about continuing the effort to reduce spending by 2016, an aversion that is interpreted as acceptance of the Greek request for an extension of the adjustment period to two years, initially scheduled to be completed by the end of 2014.

 

Referring to the negotiations with the Troika, the Finance minister expressed his optimism that they will have a successful outcome. "The Troika negotiations are difficult, as are the measures. Hopefully this month we will make the decisions that will allow us to look to the future with optimism, leaving behind past mistakes," Stournaras said.

 

According to the finmin, the budget this year will close within the limits accepted by the Troika despite the two elections. He estimated that because of the recession the primary deficit will rise to 1.5% of GDP in 2012, compared to the previous estimate of 1%.

 

He made specific reference to the need to accelerate privatizations, anti-fraud battling and generally the speeding-up of reforms, areas where the country seems to have fallen off schedule.

 

He noted that from the start of the crisis until now, the recession of the Greek economy hs been unprecedented, reaching a cumulative 20%, and is expected to reach a cumulative 25% by 2014.

 

If we achieve expenditure reduction after the package of 11.5 billion euros, Greece will be one of the countries with the lowest percentage of expenditure as percentage of the GDP, Stournaras added.