Greek GDP dives as crisis hammers economy

Page last updated at 03:51 GMT, Tuesday, May 15, 2012 - 08:51 EST

Reuters UK:

Record unemployment, wage cuts and tax hikes have hammered the economy - now in its fifth straight year of recession - and turned voters away from the mainstream political parties that backed the country's EU/IMF bailout agreement.

Elections on May 6 put radical leftists opposed to the bailout deal in second place, and polls show they would come first in a repeat election, which looks ever more likely as the parties fail to agree on forming a coalition government.

The bailouts staved off bankruptcy but the steep spending cuts and austerity they require have dragged Greece deeper into recession. The economy is expected to shrink more than 5 percent this year, with the scale of the contraction making it ever harder for the government to meet revenue targets and reduce the budget gap.

Read the whole story: Reuters UK