November 12, 2010
Greece is set to announce a new series of austerity measures next week as it scrambles to collect up to €4.5 billion ($6.15 billion) needed to meet its 2011 budget-deficit goal, two senior government officials said Friday.
The extra measures will mostly focus on spending cuts in the public sector, but may also include more indirect taxes, the officials said.
In May, Greece narrowly avoided default with the help of a €110 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund and the European Union. Under the terms of that loan program, Greece must cut its budget deficit this year by 5.5% of gross domestic product and was aiming for a deficit of 8.1% of GDP.
But one of the officials said the country's 2010 deficit is expected to reach "9.3% or a bit more" due to lagging tax collections and an expected upward revision in the country's deficit the previous year.
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