FinMin Stournaras: Greece soon to return to growth

Greece will soon be returning to growth, Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras said on Thursday while addressing the Greek-German Chamber of Industry and Commerce on "Challenges and prospects for the Greek economy: The day after". Commenting on recent articles in the foreign press concerning scenarios of a Greek

exit from the euro in the summer of 2012, Stournaras said they indicated both how crucial that period had been and the distance travelled by the country since that day.

Stournaras emphasised that the economic adjustment achieved corresponded to an unprecedented 19.4 pct of GDP, stressing that there was no other example of a country that achieved something similar in such a short space of time. He also pointed to figures given by Greece's statistical authority ELSTAT on GDP growth in the first quarter of 2014, saying that Greece is expected to return to positive growth rates after six years of recession.

With the 0.8 pct of GDP primary surplus achieved in 2013 - as opposed to a target of a zero surplus - more than 85 pct of the required improvement in the general government primary balance had already been achieved, so as to reduce debt to sustainable levels by 2020, he added.

The finance minister noted that, following the confirmation of the primary surplus by Eurostat, he had raised the issue of lightening Greece's debt burden that a recent Eurogroup, based on the decisions of November 2012, adding that any moves in this direction will be made after European bank stress tests are carried out in October.

source: ΑΜΝΑ