The European Commission is following the
economic situation in
Greece
“with serious concern,” the bloc’s designated economy commissioner,
Olli Rehn, said in
Brussels
yesterday.
Rehn was addressing the European
Parliament, which began grilling members of the EU executive body ahead of a
vote on their appointment scheduled for January 26.
Greece
’s public deficit, which skyrocketed to 12.7 percent
of gross domestic product in 2009, has raised concerns about the long-term
stability of the EU’s finances and smooth functioning of the single currency at
a time where other states also show fiscal shortfalls above 3 percent of GDP.
“The Greek government is aware of the
seriousness of the situation, and the Commission is following the situation
with serious concern,” said Rehn.
The Finn said, “It is essential that the
Greek government presents shortly, in the next few weeks if not in the next few
days, a comprehensive package of policy measures” to remedy the situation.
Turning to
Greece
’s successive revisions of fiscal data in recent
years, Rehn said he has asked his staff to study the case of
Greece
in regard to its statistical system and its
functioning.
“The problem is very serious and therefore
corrective measures need to be taken,” he said.
“I’ve asked for information concerning
other member states,” Rehn said. “The information I’ve received is that
Greece
” is an exceptional case.
Meanwhile, International Monetary Fund
representatives are expected to start a weeklong visit to
Athens
tomorrow to see whether they can provide technical
advice on pension reform, tax policy and budget management.
The mission is part of regular
surveillance, the IMF said in a statement. The officials are expected to meet
with representatives of several Greek ministries including those of Finance,
Labor and the Economy.
(
from the
newspaper “Kathimerini”,
12/1/2010
)