Greece’s Economy Will Continue Leaning on Rebounding Tourism

Greece’s economy is seen growing by 4.5 to 5.0 percent this year under a baseline scenario after a projected 9.0 to 9.5 percent rebound in 2021, the country’s influential think tank IOBE said on Monday, raising its previous 4.0-4.5 percent growth forecast made in October.

“Despite the fact that last year’s base will be higher, we are revising growth a bit upwards as the economy shows strong dynamism,” IOBE head Nikos Vettas said.

Last year the economy relied on the resilience of the tourism sector, with revenues jumping 76.6 percent year-on-year in the first nine months of 2021, he said.

Under its baseline scenario, the think tank expects another strong performance this year with tourism revenues reaching 80 to 90 percent of the record seen in 2019.

The think tank’s projection is slightly above the government’s 4.5 percent growth forecast for this year.

The projected expansion will help bring down unemployment to an average of 13.5 percent next year, the IOBE said.

Consumer inflation, which climbed to an annual 5.1 percent clip in December mainly due to higher energy costs is expected to slow to 1.5-2.0 percent in 2022.

“This inflation rate is not something the economy cannot handle,” Vettas said.

(Reporting by George Georgiopoulos; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel)

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