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The sketch of Greek economy of the upcoming years is pretty tragic if immediate measures for restoring it, are not undertaken, announced Joaquin Almunia. “After reviewing previous budget deficit data it becomes clear that throughout the past months no effective measures were undertaken by the previous government,” said the European commissioner after the fall presentation of the development of Greek economy in Brussels. It is expected that the recession will deepen throughout 2010 and it is forecasted that there will be minimal economic growth in 2011.

For 2009 the commission reports a drop in the Greek GDP with 1.1% and for 2010 it forecasts additional 0.3% decrease. A small improvement will be felt in 2011 when the GDP is forecasted to increase with 0.7%. The Euro-commissioners have calculated that the budget deficit this year is 12.7% of the GDP, which coincides with the values given by PASOK. If no change is made in the financial policies of the country this percentage will be 12.2% for 2010 and 12.8% for 2011. It is important to stress that during the calculation of these values the packet of development measures for the local economy, were not taken into consideration. This packet will be released by the newly elected government after the official votes of the budget on November 5.

The 2008 European Commission report says that the state expenses were 99.2% of the GDP and for this year this percentage increased to 112.6%. it is expected that in 2010 the expenses will be 114.9% of the GDP and in 2011 – 135.4%. Regarding inflation the commission notes that in 2008 it was 4.2% and this year it will fall to 1.2%. For the following years the percentages are expected to be as follows: 1.4% for 2010 and 2.1% for 2011. It is expected that unemployment will reach 11%.

Joaquin Almunia called for the country members to subsidize associations and institutions, which are having financial difficulties. In regards to introducing the necessary measures, which will assist the improvement of Greek economy, the commissioner said: “The expected increase in economic activity in the near future will be due to the improved policies for preserving the environment, the financial policies and introducing effective changes in tax and public legislature.”

According to EC prognosis it is expected that the EU will get out of the recession state by the end of this year, independently of the decrease in GDP with about four points. Expected is a stable increase of 0.7% for 2010 and of 1.5% for 2011.