Greek Recession Making Bailout Targets Harder to Meet: Economy

Greece’s economy contracted for a ninth straight quarter, making it harder for the government to meet the budget-reduction targets required under the country’s international bailouts.

Gross domestic product declined 6.2 percent in the second quarter from the same period last year after dropping 6.5 percent in the first, the Athens-based Hellenic Statistical Authority said in an e-mailed statement today. The median estimate of three economists in a Bloomberg News survey was for a contraction of 7 percent. The authority doesn’t publish seasonally adjusted data or quarter-on-quarter rates.