Greek economy shrinking faster than expected

With austerity measures and an EU-IMF bail-out now in place, figures show that the Greek recession deepened in the second quarter as GDP shrank by 1.5 percent and unemployment rose to 12 percent.

The GDP contraction of 1.5 percent accelerated in the three months to June after shrinking by 0.8 percent in the first quarter, the Greek statistical office reported on Thursday (12 August). Economists had forecast just a 1 percent quarterly drop.

The statistical office said in a press r...