Tourism to play key role in next growth figures after negative Q2 economic data
 
  Rebound in consumer and business psychology is due; fiscal measures weigh on incomes  
Greece’s  fish-farming industry is among the export sectors that is performing  well but this has escaped the attention of the media. With exports up  2.5 percent year-on-year up until July, the economy has received a boost  from abroad.
By Dimitris Kontogiannis - Kathimerini English Edition
 The larger-than-expected drop in Greek gross domestic product (GDP)  in the second quarter brought back concerns about the depth and duration  of the recession and its impact on the Greek fiscal consolidation plan.  The question is whether these concerns are well-founded or perhaps a  bit exaggerated.
The Greek economy shrank 1.5 percent in the  second quarter compared to the first quarter, surprising on the downside  since the market consensus had put the drop at 1.1 percent. Greece  found some solace in the experience of Spain, which disappointed but to a  much lesser extent, since its economy shrank by 0.2 percent on an  annual basis.
This contrasted with a much better-than-expected  performance by Germany, which saw its economy grow 2.2 percent in the  second quarter compared to an expected 1.3 percent.
Some Greek  government officials saw the nation’s numbers in a more positive light,  pointing out that the real GDP was down 2.9 percent in the first half.  Therefore, the economy would have to contract by 5.0 percent in the  second half to shrink by 4.0 percent in 2010 as projected in the fiscal  program agreed to with the European Union, International Monetary Fund  and the European Central Bank.
This idea is being reinforced by  the fact that the Greek economy did very badly in the last quarter of  2009 and therefore the comparison will be more favorable this year. So,  the only open question concerns the behavior of the economy in the third  quarter, which is heavily influenced by tourism.
Undoubtedly,  this approach has some merits although it ignores the fact that changes  in methodology render year-on-year GDP growth calculations shaky, as  pointed out by the Hellenic Statistical Authority.
According to  the same line of thought, Greece’s nominal GDP, which is used in the  denominator to calculate the country’s budget deficit and public debt  ratios, will do better than projected because the annual change in the  real GDP will be in line or smaller than 4.0 percent while inflation  will average at 4.5 percent or higher.
Since changes in the  nominal GDP incorporate both the change in the real GDP and the change  in inflation, it should come in slightly positive in 2010. This  contrasts with a drop of more than 2.5 percent foreseen in the program  and therefore will provide some breathing space for the government to  meet the budget deficit target of 8.1 percent of GDP this year despite  some slippage in tax revenues.
One may call this the optimistic  approach, or the opinion shared by the government and the economists of  some local banks. The latter flesh out the argument of a  smaller-than-projected drop in the real GDP by pointing out something  else: They argue the economy should get a boost in the second half  through the speedier implementation of the public investment budget  (PIB). The expenditure of the PIB was cut to 9.2 billion euros from the  10.5 billion envisaged earlier to help attain the budget deficit  reduction goal.
To reach the new lower goal of 9.2 billion euros,  some 5.0 billion will have to be spent in the second half of the year,  facilitated by more than 3.0 billion euros in EU funds.
With  exports up 2.5 percent year-on-year in the January-July period and  imports down 17.7 percent, the economy is already receiving a boost from  the external sector. Along the same lines, other bankers say there are a  few sectors of the Greek economy that are doing just fine but have  escaped the attention of the media and the general public. They point to  the strong demand abroad for exports of fresh fruits, i.e. to Russia,  and a sizable increase in exports from the sector of aquaculture, among  others.
To make their point, they add that if investment spending  picks up, aided by the implementation of the PIB, in the second half,  the economy should contract by about 3.0 percent in 2010 even though  consumption spending may fall by 3.0 percent in real terms.
All  these are fine arguments and may end up being correct after all but  those who pay attention to the dynamics of the Greek economy do not  share the same view. They agree the second quarter was a very bad for  the Greek economy because almost everything came to a standstill, as the  specter of a sovereign default weighed in. So, a rebound in consumer  and business psychology had been due in the third quarter.
However,  they point out that the restrictive fiscal measures taken, such as  sizable tax hikes, cuts in salaries along with a rise in unemployment,  will hurt incomes and consumption as time goes by. Assuming a drop of 10  percent in tourist receipts compared to last year and a further  downward adjustment in consumption spending by households, the  contraction of the real GDP will be sizable in the third quarter,  fanning further concerns about Greece’s ability to meet its fiscal  targets.
They also say the state does not pay the money owed to  its suppliers, such as pharmaceutical and construction companies, and  this contributes to the decline.
Moreover, Greek banks either do  not want to extend credit or cannot because they want to continue  deleveraging and retain more liquidity since demand from their  creditworthy customers is weak. So credit expansion to the economy will  continue to slow the rest of the year, making it more difficult for some  sectors and companies to grow or even survive, with their sales falling  significantly.
In this kind of economic environment, Greece will  have to take more restrictive measures to ensure the attainment of the  budget goal and therefore put more pressure on the real economy,  entering a vicious cycle.
Undoubtedly, one would hope the optimists are right about the numbers in Greece’s fiscal consolidation.
However,  it would be very unwise to ignore the arguments of the pessimists after  the disappointing GDP figures in the second quarter. Therefore, it  seems more prudent to wait to get further data on how the tourist  industry did over the summer before jumping to any premature conclusion.