The Greek economy is expected to grow by 1.9 pct this year, after growing by 1.4 pct in 2017, exceeding the 1.0 pct level for the first time since 2007, while it is projected to grow by 2.3 pct in 2019, the European Commission said on Thursday.
In its Spring Economic Forecast, the EU's executive body said, however, that its forecasts for Greece were revised slightly downwards compared with its previous forecast of a 2.5 pct growth rate in 2018 and 2019.
The Commission said that forecasts over unemployment were better than expected, as the unemployment rate is projected to fall below 20 pct of the workforce in 2019 (from 20.1 pct this year to 18.4 pct in 2019). The unemployment rate was 21.5 pct in 2017. Employment is expected to grow by 1.7 pct this year and by 1.8 pct in 2019.