Left-wing opposition takes lead in poll as 94 percent of Greeks feel pessimistic

APTOPIX Greece Christmas Financial Crisis

A man rides his bicycle next to a lit Christmas sign reading ''Athens'' as a homeless man sleeps on a metro air vent above an underground station to warm up, at Omonia Square in central Athens, Monday, Dec. 16, 2013. Homelessness has increased dramatically during the financial crisis in Greece, which has depended on international rescue loans for more than three years. Drastic spending cuts imposed through six years of recession have led to massive job losses, with the September unemployment rate reaching 27.4 percent. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis) (The Associated Press)

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A man takes a photograph his friend next to a lit Christmas lit sign reading ''Athens'' as a homeless man sleeps on a metro air vent above an underground station to warm up, at Omonia Square in central Athens, Monday, Dec. 16, 2013. Homelessness has increased dramatically during the financial crisis in Greece, which has depended on international rescue loans for more than three years. Drastic spending cuts imposed through six years of recession have led to massive job losses, with the September unemployment rate reaching 27.4 percent. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis) (The Associated Press)

International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission chief Poul Thomsen, right, arrives for a meeting between Greek government officials and the debt inspectors from the European Central Bank, European Commission and International Monetary Fund, known as the troika at Greece's Finance Ministry in Athens, on Monday, Dec. 16, 2013. Greece has been kept from bankruptcy by international bailouts since 2010, and is currently in talks with lenders about new austerity measures needed for 2014, along with a range of reforms demanded in public administration. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis) (The Associated Press)

ATHENS, Greece – A political party that opposes the harsh austerity measures imposed during Greece's financial crisis has taken a narrow lead in a closely monitored opinion poll.

The MRB tracking survey published by the news website real.gr Monday also found that more than 90 percent of Greeks feel pessimistic about the nation's economy.

The opposition left-wing Syriza party led with 21.9 percent, and the center-right New Democracy which heads the coalition government, had 21 percent, the poll said.

The Dec. 2-11 survey of 2,000 people put the far-right Golden Dawn party in third place with 8.9 percent, roughly unchanged from six months ago.

It was the first time that Syriza had finished first in such polls in more than a year.

Monday's poll said 94 percent of Greeks considered the country's situation "quite bad" or "very bad" — a jump of more than 10 points since June.

The government and its bailout lenders are predicting the end of the severe six-year recession in 2014.

Greece has been surviving on international rescue loans set to total 240 billion euros ($330 billion) since 2010 and imposed drastic austerity measures during a crisis that has wiped out more than a fifth of the country's economic output and pushed unemployment up to more than 27 percent.

On Monday, bailout inspectors continued talks in Athens aimed at overcome sticking points in negotiations that have dragged on for months. The main obstacles remain how to lift protection for troubled mortgage holders and the future of the state-run arms maker Hellenic Defense Systems.