Greek GDP fell by 0.9 percent in the second quarter of 2016, on an annualized basis, confirming earlier reports that revised figures would show an exacerbation of the recession in the crisis-plagued country.
The figures were released on Monday by EL.STAT, the country’s statistical service, which revised an earlier prediction of a decrease of 0.7 percent for the April-June period, on an annual basis.
The statistics bureau also revised its figure for the first quarter of 2016, saying the Greek economy imploded by 1 percent on an annualized basis. EL.STAT said the revision downwards was the result of new data being calculated, information that was not available during the first review.
The embattled leftist Greek government has forecast a return to growth for the second half of 2016 and is basing much of its fiscal policy on the prediction, with European creditors also forecasting that H2 2016 will end on a positive note for the Greek economy. Both sides, nevertheless, have conceded that 2016 will still be a recessionary year for the Greek economy as a whole.
