BRUSSELS (MNI) – Greece needs to make sure it delivers on its
promised austerity measures this year and intensify its efforts to
consolidate its budget in 2011 and 2012, the European Commission said on
Thursday.
Earlier Thursday, EU statistics agency Eurostat said Greece’s 2009
budget deficit was 13.6% of its GDP and EU officials said there was a
chance it could be revised even higher. A previous estimate put the
deficit at 12.7%.
“The deficit and debt figures released by Eurostat for 2009 …
call for an effective and full implementation,” of this year’s measures,
European Commission spokesman Amadeu Tardio told reporters at a press
conference.
He said the 2010 austerity plan “remains valid”
“Beyond that, [Economic and Monetary Affairs] Commissioner Rehn is
clearly saying we have first of all to make sure there is an effective
implementation … beyond that, we will be working with the Greek
authorities to have more details on the measures for 2011 and 2012,”
Tardio said.
Longer-term issues like structural reforms and an improvement in
competitiveness are “crucial for the future of the Greek economy,”
Tardio said.
But the spokesman evaded questions about whether the fresh Eurostat
data would cause the EU’s executive arm to extend a deadline set for
Greece to bring its deficit below the EU’s 3% stipulated limit. The
current target is 2013.
“This is a dynamic process … this is a situation that evolves …
it has to be assessed regularly,” Tardio said.
He said the deadline could be revisited in the “month of June,
when this will be assessed by the Eurogroup.”
–Brussels: 0032 487 (0) 32 803 665, echarlton@marketnews.com
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