GDP to continue its stagnant pace
The midterm fiscal plan the Finance Ministry is preparing for the 2020-23 period provides for low growth rates for Greece, leading to the conclusion that the country won’t see its gross domestic product return to pre-crisis levels before another decade has passed.
In a circular issued to the competent state entities on Friday, Alternate Finance Minister Giorgos Houliarakis wrote that the projections for GDP growth are for 2.5 percent this year, 2.3 percent next year, 2.1 percent in 2021, 1.8 percent in 2022 and 1.8 percent in 2023.
The forecasts are no different to last year’s midterm plan for 2019-22, but the following year has been added now (2023), showing the same poor performance as 2022. Consequently, in the five years to end-2023, GDP is projected to grow by just 21 billion euros, to 212 billion, from 191 billion euros in 2018.
At this rate it will take at least another five years for the economy to revert to the level of about 240 billion euros per year it was at before the outbreak of the financial crisis. This vindicates the economists who warned it will take at least another decade for Greece to return to its former economic affluence.
