The Greek economy contracted for the seventeenth consecutive time in the third quarter, though at a slower rate than estimated earlier, signaling a further deepening of the ongoing recession as the downturn in economic activity intensified amid the unresolved debt crisis, latest data showed Friday.
Gross domestic product, on an unadjusted basis and at constant prices, fell 6.9 percent year-on-year in the third quarter, which was slower than the 7.2 percent fall estimated earlier, the Hellenic Statistical Authority said. In the second quarter, the economy contracted 6.3 percent from a year earlier.
Total final consumption expenditure decreased 8.8 percent year-on-year, while gross fixed capital formation fell by 19.5 percent. Exports decreased 4.5 percent from a year earlier, and imports fell by 20.9 percent, data showed.
Rating agency Standard and Poor's this week lowered its credit rating on Greece to 'selective default' from 'CCC', days after the country announced a debt buyback plan to rid it of its mounting debt.
The Eurogroup is widely expected to approve a EUR 44 billion worth of loan tranche to Greece at next week's meeting. However, Greece has to successfully complete the debt buyback program before December 13, in order to receive the aid.
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