For the first time in eight years, Greece eyes growth

Greece’s economy is expected to expand in the third quarter for the first time in eight years, Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said Saturday. In a speech in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki, Samaras hailed what he said was an “unprecedented success” in getting the heavily indebted country out of its deepest ever financial crisis. Athens and its EU/IMF lenders are projecting overall growth of 0.6 percent in 2014 thanks to a surge in tourism and signs of a rebound in investment. Greece’s six-year recession has wiped out a quarter of the nation’s output and driven unemployment to a record high of more than 27 percent.

In a couple of years, we have made more reforms than in previous decades.

Prime Minister Antonis Samaras

Samaras was speaking at the opening of the Thessaloniki International Fair, a traditional venue for Greek leaders to announce the coming year’s economic policy. The Greek premier also hailed what he said was a success in reforming health, social security and education by cutting excessive spending and combatting fraud. Finance minister Gikas Hardouvelis cited better-than-expected tourism revenues, a stabilization of consumer spending and investment falling at a slower pace as positive signs being seen in the economy.

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