The Greek economy suffered a steep 6.9% year-on-year contraction in the second quarter, much worse than the 5.5% drop on an annual basis in the first, the state statistics agency ASE said today.
ASE said the second quarter contraction was brought on by a fall in domestic demand as austerity measures adopted by the government as part of its EU-IMF bailout really beginning to bite.
The agency said it could not provide quarter-to-quarter growth figures for technical reasons.
In the first quarter, Greece eked out growth of 0.2% from the previous three months, which the government saw seen as a positive development.
Greece is currently in its third year of recession, with government forecasting a 3% contraction this year. In May, the European Union said the Greek economy would shrink by 3.5% with the public deficit also shooting back up to 9.5% of gross domestic product, even further away from the EU ceiling of 3%.
