September 15, 2011, 19:43 / Finance

The Greek Ministry of Finance expects the recession to continue in 2012.

Greece will show a decline in GDP in 2012 for the fourth year in a row, the country's Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos admitted on Thursday. "(Lenders) need to understand that the Greek people are paying the price. There is a three-year cumulative decline in GDP that will now turn into four years of recession," Venizelos told the country's parliament. The minister did not say when he thinks Greece will be able to return to economic growth.

Greece is implementing harsh cuts in exchange for loans from the EU and IMF, but does not fit into the program's budgetary targets. The country's GDP has been falling since 2009, contracting by 4.4% in 2010 and expected to fall to 5% of GDP or higher this year. Previously, the Greek government planned for a slowdown in the economic recession in 2011 and economic growth in 2012.

According to Venizelos, the approval by eurozone countries of the second package of credit support for Greece, allocated in July of this year, is critically important for the country. To the 110 billion package in May 2010, EU countries added another 109 billion in the form of direct assistance, as well as bond exchange programs. "16 parliaments, 17 together with Greece, will soon discuss whether they will participate in the new program. We must not let the discussion go in the wrong direction," Venizelos said.