Greece’s debt-ridden economy stagnated in 2016, the national statistics agency ELSTAT said in a first estimate on Wednesday, two days after quarterly data pointed to a small contraction.
“GDP in volume terms recorded 0.0% annual rate of change in 2016,” ELSTAt said, adding that the figure was derived from non-seasonally adjusted quarterly levels plus updated data.
On Monday, ELSTAT had released fourth-quarter figures for 2016 that indicated an annual contraction of 0.05%.
This is in sharp contrast with the European Commission’s estimates that the Greek economy would actually register slim growth of 0.3% in 2016.
The new figures come at a time when Athens is locked in crucial bailout talks with the IMF and the European Union for its crisis-battered economy.
There are already deep divisions between Brussels and the Washington-based lender, which believes that the Europeans’ expectations of Greece’s economic performance are too ambitious.
The ELSTAT managed to add the quarterly data quicker than the European Commission that said on Monday “we continue to wait economic growth in Greece in 2017.” EC Spokesperson Annika Breidthardt added that the EC “takes notice” of the Q4 ELSTAT figures and stressed that these are “temporary figures of a quarter” and therefore not the year’s finals.
The only one who does not understand what 0% means is stupid, ignorant, little Alex, who f***ks the country on behalf of the 4th Reich and sells growth dreams to any idiot who buys…