GREEK ECONOMY

The Greek FinMin said that during the last six days 124 new borrowers agreed to settle their private debt through the mechanism and said that an amendment tabled to Parliament envisages improvements in the procedure.

Τhe state budget recorded a surplus of 1.471 billion euros in January, up from a monthly target for a surplus of 917 million euros and after a deficit of 1.199 billion euros in January 2022.

The package of measures, envisages payment of an extraordinary subsidy to pensioners who did not get a 7.75% pension increase, reviving older tax debt settlements, and awarding taxpayers who kept their debt settlements "alive".

The Greek economy is projected to grow by 5.5% in 2022, 1.2% in 2023 and 2.2% in 2024, surpassing the 3.5%, 0.9% and 1.5%, respectively, growth forecast for the Eurozone and 3.5%, 0.8% and 1.6% in the EU.

IOBE stressed that inflationary pressures are gradually de-escalating in comparison with last year, as energy prices did not create as big as a problem as initially feared, thus reducing pessimism

The average CPI for the twelve - month period from January 2022 to December 2022, compared with the corresponding index for the period January 2021 to December 2021 increased by 9.6%.

Greece is starting off 2023 on more favorable terms compared to other European countries, since it has shown high resilience, a positive course, and favorable prospects, Staikouras said, as is evident from basic indexes.

The primary result showed a deficit of 1.091 billion euros, down from a budget target for a deficit of 2.239 billion and a primary shortfall of 7.882 billion in 2021.

Staikouras represented Greece at Eurogroup and Ecofin meetings, took part, as a speaker, in international conferences and fora and held meetings with representatives of investment and banking groups who expressed and/or confirmed their investment interest in Greece.

The Greek state budget envisages a GDP growth rate of 1.8% next year from 5.6% in 2022, with the country's GDP expected to rise to 224.134 billion euros in 2023 from 210.170 billion this year.