Analysis - Greece heads for record books as economy slumps

Page last updated at 09:18 GMT, Thursday, February 16, 2012 - 14:18 EST

Reuters:

A man makes his way during a rainy day in front of the parliament in Athens February 16, 2012.

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The Greek economy shrank 6.8 percent in 2011, leaving the level of output an estimated 16 percent below its pre-crisis peak. Unemployment has soared to more than 20 percent from 7.7 percent in 2008.

Argentina suffered a 20 percent peak-to-trough drop in output as it defaulted on its debts in 2001, while Latvia's economy contracted by 24 percent because of the 2008 global financial crisis.

With more belt-tightening in store in return for a proposed 130 billion euro (107.8 billion pound) international bailout, Athens is on course to join their ranks, and possibly overtake them, said Uri Dadush, an economist with the Carnegie Endowment in Washington, a think tank.

"On the current path - which is not sustainable in my view - we may very well see Greek GDP go down 25-30 percent, which would be historically unprecedented. It's a disastrous crisis for them," Dadush, a former senior World Bank official, said.

Read the whole story: Reuters