Greece's budget deficit reached 9.1% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2011 the hellenic Statistics Authority ELSTAT announced on April 23.

According to provisional source data, the deficit of the General Government for 2011, as measured under the EDP, is estimated at € 19.6 billion (9.1% of Gross Domestic Product), while the gross consolidated General Government debt at year‐end 2011 is estimated at a nominal value of € 355.6 billion (165,3% of GDP).

Commenting on the release of fiscal statistics data, Finance Minister Philippos Sachinidis said he was optimistic that the country will present primary surpluses soon.He noted that Greece has managed to reduce its fiscal deficit by 6.5 percentage points of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in a two-year period, while, in terms of primary deficit, the improvement was even larger, at 8.2 percentage points, highlighting that the country has covered a great distance since its 2009 fiscal deficit figures.

Finance Ministry: Statement [in Greek]