Greek economy shrinks 0.4pc

ATHENS: Greece’s economy contracted more than originally estimated in the last quarter of 2014 compared with the previous three-month period, a revised estimate by the ELSTAT statistics service showed on Friday.
The estimate of gross domestic product, based on seasonally adjusted data, showed the economy shrank 0.4 percent in October to December. This was worse than a flash estimate of a 0.2 percent drop made earlier this month, and growth of 0.7 percent in the third quarter.
ELSTAT said the economy grew 1.2 percent year-on-year in the fourth quarter based on unadjusted data, down from a flash estimate of 1.5 percent and from 2.0 percent in the third quarter. Athens and its EU/IMF lenders have projected growth of 0.6 percent for 2014 as a whole. The latest official estimate by the previous government’s finance minister was 0.7 percent.
The provisional estimate of GDP, based on seasonally adjusted data, showed consumer spending remained unchanged quarter-on-quarter in October-December, while investment rose 18.3 percent quarter-on-quarter. Exports of services, which include tourism, fell 3.4 percent compared with the third quarter.
Greece’s economic boom of the early 2000s ended with the country sinking into a recession after a global credit crunch. A subsequent debt crisis and austerity imposed by the international lenders who bailed out the country deepened the recession, wiping out a quarter of the economy over six years.