Greece: deficit-cutting is exceeding targets
June 10, 2010 A finance ministry statement says the January-May deficit was
euro8.97 billion ($10.77 billion), compared to euro14.65 billion in the
first five months of 2009. It says this represents a 38.8 percent
reduction, more than the planned 35.1 percent cut.
Also Thursday, Greece's statistical authority said unemployment
in March reached 11.6 percent. Although a five-year high for the
month of March, the figure was down from 12.1 percent in February,
with 26,500 fewer jobless people.
Debt-ridden Greece narrowly avoided defaulting on its loans last
month, using part of a euro110 billion international rescue package.
