IMF says Greek recession at 5.5 percent in 2011
Greece?s economy may contract by as much as 5.5 percent this year and the recession will continue into next year, the IMF?s representative to Greece said on Monday, adding that the debt-choked country needed to step up reforms to return to growth.
?Recovery will not materialise without a reinvigoration of reforms,? Bob Traa told a conference in Athens.
?We now think that growth in 2011 might land at something like negative 5.5 percent. Because it takes time to get out of it, the average growth projection for 2012 we are working on is negative 2.5 percent.
?We are now thinking the economy will not start showing positive quarter-on-quarter growth before the end of next year.? [Reuters]
