Greek economy unexpectedly grows – despite negative forecasts

A man buys cherries in Monastiraki in downtown Athens on July 14, 2015.

According to the new figures, the Greek economy posted zero growth in the first quarter of the year after having contracted 0.2 percent in the last quarter of 2014 – thus averting two periods of decline constituting recession.

So there’s growing speculation that official figures released Friday will show the 19-country bloc’s growth rate eased during the second quarter.

Tsipras called for parliament to reconvene after the government reached an outline agreement with its creditors early on Tuesday on an €85bn (£61bn) package aimed at saving the debt-stricken country from bankruptcy and securing its future in the euro. Reports continue to suggest that one of Germany’s key objections to the deal is the absence of the International Monetary Fund, something that could only be rectified with some kind of debt relief for Greece.

Greece’s economy emerged from a six-year recession in 2014. But analysts said some sectors, such as the tourism mainstay of the economy, had shown ability to withstand the uncertainty stemming from months of deadlocked talks with foreign lenders.

The second-quarter data don’t capture the impact of the capital controls, which came into effect at the end of June. That 0.8% growth was on a real basis, adjusted for the falling prices.

Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, is due to publish its second-quarter report on the Eurozone on Friday.

As Greece needs the deal to make a 3.2 billion euro debt repayment to the European Central Bank on August. 20, Tsipras asked parliamentary speaker Zoe Konstantopoulou to expedite debate on the bill approving the bailout.

The study says that Greece’s debt burden can be made more bearable by waiving payments until the economy has recovered and then giving Athens longer to pay.

‘That behavior includes Greeks boosting spending before they got cut off from accessing their money.