ATHENS: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in its World Economic Outlook report that the Greece economy is expected to grow faster, while fiscal deficit will fall further and unemployment will decline this year.
IMF is expecting Greece GDP to grow from 0.8% in 2014 to 2.5% in 2015 and to 3.7% in 2016, with growth rate rising to 4.0% in the fourth quarter of 2015, from 1.3% in the corresponding period last year.
The unemployment rate is projected to fall from 26.5% in 2014 to 24.8% this year and to 22.1% in 2016, while the inflation rate is expected to remain on negative ground (-0.3% this year from -1.4% last year) before returning to positive in 2016 (0.3%).
The general government deficit is projected to fall to 0.8% of GDP this year from 2.7% in 2014, presenting a surplus of 0.7% of GDP in 2016. In structural terms, Greece is expected to present a surplus of 2.1% of GDP this year and in 2016, from a surplus of 1.4% of GDP in 2014.
