Another “Bitter pill” moment for the days-old second Tsipras government came on Friday when the relevant economy minister said the recession-battered country’s GDP would shrink by between 1.5 to 2.0 percent in election-plagued 2015.
Giorgos Stathakis confirmed projections for yet another year of economic downturn, and in the face of last year’s targets of a 2.9-percent hike in GDP.
“I dare not give the exact number, but we mentioned a couple of weeks ago that it would probably fall below 2.0 percent. Now, we can say for sure that it will reach this level. I think a positive figure will be recorded in the first half of 2016 and surely in the second quarter of 2016,” was Stathakis’ optimistic prediction of growth rates in leftist SYRIZA’s second year of power.