Greece to present ‘alarming’ economic data to inspectors

Greece’s new government will present “alarming” data on its recession and its unemployment to global debt inspectors this week, in a bid to renegotiate the terms of its bailout.

Government spokesman Simos Kedikoglou said the data would demonstrate the austerity programme was counter-productive.

Greece is relying on rescue loans from its partners in the eurozone and the IMF to avoid bankruptcy.

In exchange, it has made painful austerity measures.

Along with uncertainty over its finances, austerity cuts have hit Greece’s economy hard — it is in a fifth year of recession, with unemployment topping 22%, roughly double the eurozone average.

The government will argue it cannot withstand the pace of austerity terms. Debt inspectors from the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the IMF are due in Athens today.

“We will present information that is astounding.

“It is alarming in terms of the recession and un-employment, and it shows beyond any doubt that the current policy does not bring results. It brings the opposite results,” Kedikoglou said.

Christos Staikouras, a deputy finance minister, said the recession was expected to deepen later this year, quoting a recent study by Greece’s centre of planning and economic research.

“The economy is in turmoil and the situation has reached an untenable point,” Staikouras said.

The economy contracted by 6.5% in the first quarter of 2012, he said. It is estimated to shrink a stunning 9.1% in the third quarter for a 6.7% contraction for the year as a whole, according to the study — almost twice as bad as official predictions made a few months ago.