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12/20/06

ekathimerini.com: Greek debt more than three times GDP

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Greek debt more than three times GDP

Greece’s total debt is more than three times its gross national product, according to figures supplied by Deputy Finance Minister Petros Doukas in Parliament yesterday. The total comes to –694 billion, of which –226 billion is accounted for by the central government, –76 billion by households, –92 billion by firms and more than –300 billion euros by social insurance organizations. Municipal authorities and enterprises are also debt-creating machines, as they often borrow more than they can bear. “In 2007, we (the government) shall pay out 88 billion and shall receive 53 billion... The difference (35 billion) will be covered by borrowing,” Doukas said. Of the –88 billion of state spending, public sector salaries and pensions will absorb –20.7 billion, debt repayments –24.3 billion, interest payments –9.8 billion, public investment –8.8 billion, welfare benefits and other transfers –3 billion and payments to the EU –2.4 billion. Doukas said military procurement orders totaled –17 billion in the 1997-2003 period. It is those programs we are paying off today, he added.

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