Greece’s economy shrank slightly more than expected in the second quarter of the year. It contracted by 0.3% but remains on course to emerge from a six-year recession in the coming months, according to figures published Monday.
Greece and its Troika of international lenders project the economy will emerge from a brutal six-year recession this year, expanding by a modest 0.6% on the back of a strong tourist season and a rebound in investment.
Fresh data from the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) for the April-June period showed that gross domestic product contracted by an annual rate of 0.3%, slightly worse than a previous estimate of a 0.2% contraction.
GDP, based on seasonally-unadjusted data, was revised down from a flash estimate earlier this month, showing a 0.2% contraction. It was the fifth straight quarter of slowing economic contraction.
Nevertheless, it was the Greek economy’s best performance since the fourth quarter of 2008.
Despite the revision, the second quarter data means that Greece is on track to meet its full year growth target of 0.6% for 2014.
ELSTAT’s revisions are part of a regular exercise by the European Union’s statistical office EUROSTAT to keep their national accounts data up-to-date.
Greece does not provide seasonally adjusted quarter-on-quarter GDP data, which most countries use to measure their economic performance.
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