Europe

Europe

Greece remains in eye of debt storm: EU report

14 July 2011 01:49 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The European Commission said Wednesday that Greece remains in the eye of storm of the debt crisis, urging the country to reinforce its economic adjustment program, APA reports siting Xinhua.

"Despite the utmost resolve of policymakers and a string of ambitious and far-reaching policy measures, some euro-area sovereigns continue to face acute challenges. Greece in particular remains in the eye of the storm," the Commission said in a quarterly report of the euro area.

The report said Greece, Ireland and Portugal have all taken significant steps towards fiscal consolidation but they must continue to pursue vigorous fiscal and broader structural reforms, especially Greece.

"While Greece has also delivered a notable fiscal adjustment to date, the overall progress is more complex in light of the debt level and the political context," the report said, adding "reinforcement of the program is therefore needed to ensure Greece’s return to a sustainable trajectory of public finances."

The Commission predicted that economic growth of the euro area is expected to slow down in the coming quarters and will remain uneven across member states due to divergent adjustment needs of member states.

The euro area saw its economy expanded by 0.8 percent in the first quarter of this year compared to the previous quarter. The European Commission forecast in May that euro area economy will grow by 1.6 percent in 2011, with downside risks to growth prevailing.