Citi analysts don’t foresee growth in H2

The Greek economy is unlikely to return to a path of growth in the second half of 2016, analysts at Citi warned in a recent report, pointing to the decline in Greek exports since the imposition of capital controls last summer.

According to the data, overall exports dropped 11 percent year-on-year in June and 16.1 percent in the second quarter of 2016.

Exports of goods shrank 5.4 percent and services 14.6 percent year-on-year in June. As far as exports of services are concerned – representing 53 percent of overall Greek exports – revenues from travel services (27 percent of overall exports) declined 5.4 percent y-o-y in June and 7.3 percent in the second quarter.

Overall imports, however, dropped more than exports, at a y-o-y rate of 11.3 percent in June and 13.1 percent in Q2, resulting in a better outlook for the current account surplus, to the tune of 0.7 percent of GDP or 1.3 billion euros.