In its spring report on the outlook of the global economy, the International Monetary Fund forecast said that economic recession in Greece, Portugal, Italy and Spain will be deeper and noted that recovery was not expected before 2013, in contrast with other Eurozone economies, where a shallow and short-lived recovery was expected.
The IMF said the Greek economy will remain in recession this year, with the country's Gross Domestic Product expected to shrink by 4.7 pct in 2012, from 6.9 pct in 2011, while the GDP was expected to stabilize around 2012 levels next year.
The IMF said the inflation rate will turn negative, -0.5 pct in 2012 and -0.3 pct in 2013, while the unemployment rate will rise to 19.4 pct of the workforce in 2012, to remain unchanged in 2012. The country's current accounts deficit will fall to 7.4 pct of GDP this year, falling to 6.6 pct in 2013, form 9.7 pct of GDP in 2011. (AMNA)