Greek 2010 Budget Gap Wider Than Estimated as Euro-Area Debt Hits Record

Bloomberg
April 26, 2011

Greece’s 2010 budget gap was more than a percentage point wider than the government estimated after a review by Europe’s statistics agency, the latest blow to the nation’s finances as it seeks to avoid a debt restructuring.

Last year’s shortfall was 10.5 percent of gross domestic product, compared with 15.4 percent of GDP in 2009, Eurostat said in a statement today from Luxembourg. In February, the Greek government had said it met its revised target for a 9.4 percent deficit in 2010.

The revision is another setback in Greece’s efforts to meet targets set out under last year’s 110 billion-euro ($160 billion) bailout from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. The government still aims to cut the deficit to 7.4 percent of GDP this year, and earmarked 3 billion euros in unspecified savings to account for fiscal slippage in 2011 as part of 26 billion euros in measures announced on April 15.

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