Fiscal Council gives the green light to the 2027 draft budget

The Hellenic Fiscal Council gave the green light to the macroeconomic forecasts underlying the 2027 draft state budget, judging them within the ‘acceptable range’ and in compliance with the numerical fiscal rules, as ProtoThema reports. The independent body, however, warns of risks weighing on the baseline scenario.

According to the draft budget, the Greek economy is forecast to grow by 2% in 2026 and by 2.3% in 2027. The Fiscal Council is more restrained: it expects growth of 1.9% for this year and 2% for next year, with reservations especially about the pace of investment after the end of the Recovery and Resilience Fund. The Ministry of Finance has revised down the forecast for real GDP growth to 2% for 2026, after the 1.9% growth registered in the first half, ProtoThema reports.

The draft budget’s key figures forecast for 2027 a primary surplus of 3.3% of GDP and public debt at 128.8% of GDP. For 2026, the Council forecasts growth of 1.9%, inflation of 3.6%, a primary surplus of 3.6% of GDP and debt at 136.8% of GDP. The draft budget is based on investment growth of 7.9%, private consumption growth of 1.5% and public consumption growth of 1.4% for 2027 — an investment pace the Council considers decisive, but significantly higher than the estimates of international organisations.

According to the same source, the 2027 budget includes permanent benefits worth 2.8 billion euros for citizens.