EU Commissioner Joaquin Almunia on Friday expressed his satisfaction for efforts made by the Greek government to reduce the country's fiscal deficit, saying Greek authorities have fully cooperated with the European Commission's recommendations on reducing excessive deficit.

 Speaking to reporters after a Eurogroup meeting in Brussels, Almunia stressed that a Commission's spring report on the economic outlook of member-states in the period 2006-2007 would underline that the Greek economy was moving towards the right direction. The EU Commissioner stressed that the Commission would also note that efforts to stabilize deficits will not end in 2006 but they must continue in 2007.

"In the medium-term, efforts to stabilize the Greek economy should continue through structural changes, necessary to ensure the sustainability of the country's fiscal situation," he noted.

Almunia said that a group of Eurostat's experts would visit Greece in the coming weeks for talks with the country's National Statistics Service (NSS) over a new methodology to evaluate the fiscal situation of municipalities and pension funds in Greece. The EU Commissioner said Greece's statistical gathering methods faced certain problems that have to be resolved through structural improvements.

Source: Athens News Agency

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