Upward revision of Greek deficit due to changed Eurostat rules

Amadeu Altafaj, the spokesman for the European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs Olli Rehn, said on Tuesday that the upward revision of Greece's deficit for 2010 was the result of a change in Eurostat's rules for calculating member-state public deficit figures.

Pointing to similar upward revisions for several Eurozone countries, Altafaj also noted that for the first time in many years, last November and then again on Tuesday Eurostat confirmed the figures provided by the Greek statistical authority.

Asked how the increase in the public deficit figures would affect Greece's fiscal policy for 2011, Altafaj said that this would be addressed in the spring economic forecasts released by the European Commission in May.

He underlined the Commission's absolute confidence in the Greek government's determination to implement the "ambitious" and "balanced" economic programme presented on April 15, in which the Greek government pledged spending cuts amounting to 3 billion euro during 2011 and 26 billion euro by 2015, combined with a 50-billion euro privatisation programme.

The spokesman was fairly optimistic concerning the impact of the programme and said that the social cost for Greece would have been much greater if the measures had not been taken.

Altafaj noted that the programme has already had an immediate positive impact on a social level, such as reducing prices for medication, and was expected to increase the competitiveness of the Greek economy in the medium term, with the latest Eurostat figures pointing to a gradual leveling-off in the Greek recession.

Finally, he denied any plans on the part of Rehn to visit Athens in the coming weeks.

ANA-MPA