PBO: Greek growth at 2.2% this year and next

Τhe Greek economy is expected to grow by 2.2% this year and in 2024, the Parliament Budget Office said in a report released on Tuesday.

The report said that the Greek economy grew by 2.1% in the first quarter of 2023 and noted that a slowdown compared with a 7.8% growth rate in the first quarter of 2022 signaled the return of the economy to normal growth rates.

Under the base scenario, the growth rate for 2023 and 2024 will be 2.2%, the inflation rate will fall to 4.6% in 2023 and 2.3% in 2024, although core inflation remains stubbornly high.

The current account deficit shrank by around 3 billion euros in the January-April period to 5.6 billion euros, but remained up from €4.9 billion in the corresponding period last year.

The unemployment rate was 10.8% in May, down from 12.7% in May 2022 with employment up 1.1% and nominal wages up 5.5% in the first quarter.

The report said that the fiscal picture of the first four months of 2023 showed an improvement of €2.5 billion compared with the same period last year, reflecting higher tax revenue.

The yield of the 10-year Greek state bond fell significantly in the last few months, with the yield spread down 40 basis points from the 10-year Italian bond and up 35 bps from Spanish bonds.