Published: September 28 2006 18:40 | Last updated: September 28 2006 18:40
Greece suddenly found itself 25 per cent richer on Thursday after a surprise upward revision of its gross domestic product, the fruit of a change to national accounts designed to capture better a fast-growing service sector – including parts of the black economy such as prostitution and money laundering.
The country’s newfound wealth raised eyebrows in Brussels, because it means Greece will find it easier to bring its budget deficit below the European Union’s 3 per cent of GDP ceiling.
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Having previously been found guilty of underestimating the size of its budget deficit, Greece’s new GDP calculation will be scrutinised by Eurostat, the EU statistics agency.
“Member states revise their figures regularly, but this is quite a significant revision and needs to be checked,” said a spokeswoman for Joaquín Almunia, EU monetary affairs commissioner.
Mr Almunia’s aides admit they were surprised by Athens’ announcement, which was not discussed in advance with Brussels or other EU finance ministers. Typically, such upward GDP revisions are of between 1-2 per cent, although Greece and Italy have each previously made big revisions.
However, Greece’s finance minister defended the 25 per cent upward revision of annual gross domestic product since 2000 as the result of “improved measurement” of a fast-growing services sector.
George Alogoskoufis said the unexpectedly high figures, produced by the state statistical service, must still be verified by Eurostat and had not been used in preparing the 2007 budget, which will be presented next week to parliament.
“We’ll present the draft budget based on the old figures, although we don’t expect the outcome [of the revision] to be disputed,” Mr Alogoskoufis told the Financial Times.
Greece’s budget deficit is forecast to fall from 2.6 per cent to 2.4 per cent of GDP next year. But using the revised figures it would fall well below the EU’s limit, from 2.1 per cent to 1.9 per cent of GDP.
Greece’s public debt, among the highest in the eurozone, would meanwhile shrink at a stroke to 85 per cent of GDP from 107.5 per cent.
Mr Alogoskoufis said one reason for the leap in output was that Greece had not re-based its national accounts since 1993. Brussels requires member-states to update their accounts every five years.
Among the snags of becoming so much richer, Greece will have to contribute more to the EU budget and could lose €470m ($597m, £318m) a year in EU funds earmarked for poor countries after a review in 2010.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2006
uk.biz.yahoo.com/30092006/140/greece-s-prostitutes-boosting-gdp.html
Saturday September 30, 12:02 PM
Greece's Prostitutes Boosting GDP
The Greek economy is 25% bigger than previously thought, thanks in part to prostitutes. The country, which introduced prostitutes to the world in the sixth century BC, has decided to include the black market in its official GDP (gross domestic product) figures. In 2005, Greece's economy was valued at £122bn and is expected to rise to £131bn this year.
According to Reuters news agency, the country's black economy is estimated at up to £41bn.
Manolis Kontopyrakis, head of the national statistics service, said: "The revised GDP will include some money from illegal activities, such as money from cigarette and drinks smuggling, prostitution and money laundering."
The revision will allow Greece to escape possible fines for running a high deficit, according to The Guardian.
But it also means that Athens will have to pay more into the EU budget and could lose out on funding.
Statistics agency Eurostat is expected to take a closer look at the new figures.
Quote:Imagine if ALbania does that...your GDP will rise 3 times.
And including Greek pedophile priests who have run out of sucking every 10 yr old C0CK in Greece would give us a six-fold increase.
Edited by: Keshtu Foli Z at: 9/30/06 9:08 pm
Re: Guess what makes the Greeks richer this year??
Greek themselves and hard working Albanians immigrants made Greece incresing businesses and growing economy.
Re: Guess what makes the Greeks richer this year??
Z said:
Quote:
And including Greek pedophile priests who have run out of sucking every 10 yr old C0CK in Greece would give us a six-fold increase.
Whatever turns you on Z....I swear I sense you drooling when your wrote that....you're one sick puppy.... hope you never get a chance to come near kids...
Canaris and keeping a safe distance away from this psychopath.
Re: Guess what makes the Greeks richer this year??
i dont trust this greek government at all,karamanlis plays tricky games again...he has managed twice in these 2,5 years of his administration to prove that the e.u should not trust the estimation of greek officials about the basic figures of our economy...
anyway,about albanian victims of pedophilia...yes it is true...i guess that hundreds of albanian children,mostly boys,lose their innocence at some athenian hotels...and certainly some sick greek bastards fak them.
dont accuse the pedophiles alone...the parents and the pimps participate to this and bare a big part of the responsibility...these things did not happen before in greece...
the way of the peaceful warrior:paradox,humor and change...
Re: Guess what makes the Greeks richer this year??
Well its not bad news for Greece...
Albania SHOULD do something similar...as in...try to legalize the black market sector of the economy. Even in Greece...a member of the EU...black market is a VERY large business. Same in Albania...the problem is trying to actually legalize them...
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- Dr. Rrumpalla
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O Sali, ill i karvanit,
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o Sali, ill i pashuar
ne gjith' boten i degjuar!
Lumturi neve na solle,
ka armiqte na shpetove,
planet ua shkaterrove,
neper plehra i hodhe.
Rrofsh, Sali, me gjith' PD-ne,
Lumturi per Shqiperine!
Me PD-ne dhe Saline
jemi gati kurdohere
Shqiperin' ta zbukurojme,
demokracine te ndertojme.
O Sali, ill i vertete,
te na rrosh njemile vjet!
Re: Guess what makes the Greeks richer this year??
Those who have frequented Athens' Piraeus harbour after dark may be surprised the revision wasn't larger.
Anyway, Italy did the same 19 years ago and so did China last year.
Pacifism is not just the ideal that you will not harm another. Pacifism is the dedication and faith in the future of a human condition without war and violence, and the willingness to die knowing the world is not yet ready for your beliefs, rather than kill and live in a world where you have made those ideals obsolete.
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