Economy of Greece From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The economy of Greece is the 43rd or 50th largest in the world at $242 billion or $283 billion by nominal gross domestic product or purchasing power parity respectively, according to World Bank statistics for the year 2013.[5][6] As of 2013, Greece is the thirteenth-largest economy in the 28-member European Union.[3] In terms of per capita income, Greece is ranked 37th or 40th in the world at $22,083 and $25,331 for nominal GDP and purchasing power parity respectively. A developed country, the economy of Greece mainly revolves around the service sector (80.6%) and industry (16%), while agriculture made up an estimated 3.4% of the national economic output in 2012.[2] Important Greek industries include tourism and shipping. The Greek Merchant Navy is the largest in the world, with Greek-owned vessels accounting for 15.17% of global deadweight tonnage as of 1 January 2013,[32] for the unprecedented demand of investment on the shipping industry of international transportation between Greece and Asia in recent years. [33] With 17.9 million international tourist arrivals in 2013, Greece was the seventh most visited country in the European Union and sixteenth in the world.[34] The country is also a significant agricultural producer within the EU. With an economy larger than all the Balkan economies combined, Greece is the largest economy in the Balkans and an important regional investor.[35][36] Greece is the number-two foreign investor of capital in Albania, the number-three foreign investor in Bulgaria, at the top-three foreign investors in Romania and Serbia and the most important trading partner and largest foreign investor of the Republic of Macedonia. Greek banks open a new branch somewhere in the Balkans on an almost weekly basis.[37][38][39] The Greek telecommunications company OTE has become a strong investor in Yugoslavia and other Balkan countries.[37] Greece is classified as an advanced,[40] high-income economy,[41] and was a founding member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC). The Treaty of Accession of Greece to the European Communities was signed in Athens on 28 May 1979, and the country formally joined what is now the European Union on 1 January 1981.[1] On 1 January 2001 Greece adopted the euro as its currency, replacing the Greek drachma at an exchange rate of 340.75 drachmae per euro.[1][42] Greece is also a member of the International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organization, and is ranked 31st on the KOF Globalization Index for 2010 and 34th on the Ernst & Young’s Globalization Index 2011.[43] The country's economy was devastated by the Second World War, and the high levels of economic growth that followed throughout the 1950s to 1970s are dubbed the Greek economic miracle. Since the turn of the millennium, Greece saw high levels of GDP growth above the Eurozone average, peaking at 5.9% in 2003 and 5.5% in 2006.[44] The subsequent Great Recession and Greek government-debt crisis, a central focus of the wider Eurozone crisis, plunged the economy into a sharp downturn, with real GDP growth rates of −0.2% in 2008, −3.1% in 2009, −4.9% in 2010, −7.1% in 2011, −7.0% in 2012 and −3.9% in 2013.[45][46][47] In 2011, the country's public debt reached €355.141 billion (170.3% of nominal GDP).[48][49] After negotiating the biggest debt restructuring in history with the private sector, Greece reduced its sovereign debt burden to €280.4 billion (136.5% of GDP) in the first quarter of 2012.[50] Greece returned to growth after six years of economic decline in the second quarter of 2014,[51] and was the eurozone's fastest-growing economy in the third quarter.[52] http://r.search.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0LEVreWrpBUHRQAwhEPxQt.;_ylu=X3oDMTByMG04Z2o2BHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDMQRjb2xvA2JmMQR2dGlkAw--/RV=2/RE=1418796823/RO=10/RU=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fEconomy_of_Greece/RK=0/RS=yoqv9p_B.8.aTY1MutlkhC0HK6I-
Greek talks with IMF/EU lenders drag on, compromise seen Greece and its international lenders were edging closer to a compromise on signing off on a review of bailout reforms which could unlock more aid to the country, government sources said on Monday, after marathon talks with creditors. Just over ten hours of overnight negotiations between Athens and its lenders - the European Commission, the European Central Bank, European Stability Mechanism and the International Monetary Fund - broke off shortly before 0400 GMT. They were scheduled to resume later Monday. "There are some small details to settle on the fiscal side of things .. We are very close," a government source said. Divergence remained over pension reforms and regulating non-performing loans, the source added. The review has dragged on for months mainly due to a rift among the lenders over Greece's projected fiscal shortfall by 2018 - initially seen at 3 percent by the EU, 1 percent by Athens and 4.5 percent by the IMF. Athens and its lenders have agreed to use 3 percent as the baseline scenario in the Athens-based talks. But the EU and the IMF are still at odds on whether Athens could achieve a 3.5 percent primary surplus - budget balance before debt service payments - in 2018, an official participating in the talks told Reuters. The IMF, which will decide whether to co-finance Greece's third bailout after the review and in light of how much debt relief Greece receives, believes Athens will miss its 2018 surplus target and settle at 1.5 percent, even if it implements measures worth 3 percent of GDP, the official said. EU institutions believed the target was feasible. Faced with a huge refugee crisis - which has catapulted Greece to the forefront of a massive refugee influx into Europe in the past year, the EU is keen to resolve the financing logjam swiftly. A positive review will unlock up to five billion euros in aid. Athens needs the money to repay 3.5 billion euros to the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank in July, as well as unpaid domestic bills. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who has a fragile parliamentary majority, is aiming for a compromise before a euro zone finance ministers' meeting on April 22. He hopes the conclusion of the review will send a positive signal to markets and coax back investors, while a debt restructuring will convince Greeks that their sacrifices are paying off after six years of belt-tightening. LINK - http://www.reuters.com/article/us-eurozone-greece-review-idUSKCN0X80BN
