Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Greece’s Deficit At 10.5%, Wider Than Expected

From the WSJ:

Greece's budget deficit in 2010 was 10.5% of gross domestic product, significantly higher than forecast by either the Greek government or European Union authorities, the EU's official statistics agency, Eurostat, said.

The new deficit figure will add further pressure on Greece to cut its deficit this year to meet targets set under a rescue program overseen by the EU and the International Monetary Fund. The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, said in February that it expected Greece's deficit to be 9.6% of GDP in 2010 and 7.6% by the end of this year.

Eurostat also revised Greece's 2008 budget deficit to 9.8% of GDP from 9.4%. Greece's total government debt was 142.8% of GDP at the end of 2010, the highest level in the EU, the agency said.

Read the whole article here.