ECONOMY

NBG expects growth to reach 1.6 percent in 2017

NBG expects growth to reach 1.6 percent in 2017

Following the Hellenic Statistical Authority’s publication of provisional growth figures for the second quarter of the year that put expansion at 0.8 percent in Q2 and at 0.6 percent in the first half of the year, National Bank of Greece has estimated that the country’s economy will expand by 1.6 percent in 2017.

NBG’s Greece Micro Flash report said that based on the latest available information for July and August, the third quarter will see the economy grow 1.7 percent year-on-year, followed by 3 percent growth in the last quarter. That would take gross domestic product up 1.6 percent for 2017 as a whole, against an official forecast for 1.8 percent growth this year.

The bank’s economists say that this momentum will rely on what they describe as a remarkable improvement in the economic sentiment index and the procurement managers’ index (PMI) to 30-month and nine-year highs respectively in August, as well as on the 5.7 percent increase in foreign tourism arrivals at the country’s major airports. Conservative estimates put the rise of tourism revenues this year at 9 percent year-on-year.

The report also expects a favorable contribution by the end of the year from the public investments program which provides for more investment in the latter half of the year, and from the payment of the state’s dues to the private sector.

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