The final budget for 2022, presented by the Greek Ministry of Finance, assumes that by the end of next year, Greece's GDP will recover to the level at which it was before the outbreak of the pandemic.
According to the latest forecasts, Greece's GDP will grow by 6.9% in 2021, while the European Commission expects a weaker increase. As for 2022, the budget assumes GDP growth of 4.5%.
In general, more positive prospects for economic growth will contribute to reducing the budget deficit and extremely high debt burden.
The budget also noted that by 2022, the volume of investments is expected to grow by 21.9%, while exports will grow by 11.1%. As for the primary deficit, it is projected to decrease to 1.2% of GDP next year from 7.3% of GDP in 2021. Meanwhile, the debt-to-GDP ratio is expected to fall in 2021 to 189.6% of GDP from 206.3% of GDP in 2020.
The Ministry of Finance also forecasts an improvement in the labor market situation in 2022, namely, a drop in the unemployment rate to 14.2% from 15.9% in 2021.. As for the inflationary situation, the CPI is expected to grow by 0.6% this year and by 0.8% next year.