Leader tipped to fall back in growth race

Greek GDP growth has outpaced that of EU peers since 1996 but underlying fiscal imbalances exacerbated by faltering privatization and the inevitable passing of the Olympics effect look set to slow it down. Dimitris Kontogiannis reports.

The Greek economy is expected to continue the outperformance of its EU partners that started in 1996, growing by about 4% in 2003 and 4.2% in 2004. By contrast, the European Commission (EC) forecasts GDP growth of 0.8% in 2003 and 2% in 2004 for the 15-member European Union as a whole and even lower rates of 0.4% and 1.8% for the eurozone.

There is, though, a downside to the Greek dynamism: its economy shows signs of fiscal slippage.

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