Greek finance ministry says deficit narrowed to 6.6 percent of GDP in 2012, meeting targets
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The Greek government says its painful austerity drive is paying off, with the budget deficit reduced to 6.6 percent of annual output in 2012 from 9.4 percent a year earlier.
A finance ministry statement Monday said that, not counting the cost of servicing Greece's debt mountain, the government posted a modest budget surplus of €434 million ($588 million) last year.
The conservative-led governing coalition has promised to reduce the budget deficit to 5.2 percent of annual output this year — down from a peak of more than 15 percent when the Greek economy started to implode in 2009.
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Greece has survived on international rescue loans, granted since 2010 in exchange for harsh fiscal discipline through repeated cuts in pensions and salaries, coupled with tax hikes.