Greek budget projects strong economic rebound in 2021

ATHENS, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- The Greek government expects the country's economy to rebound by up to 7.5 percent next year after an 8.2 percent slump in 2020, according to the first draft of the 2021 national budget submitted in the country's parliament on Monday.

The draft presented by Finance Minister Christos Staikouras said the Greek economy will grow by 5.5 percent in 2021 on its own means ("baseline scenario"). If the promised resources from the European Union's (EU) Next Generation fund start arriving -- a sum projected at 32 billion euros (37.76 billion U.S. dollars) in grants and loans in the coming years -- the expansion of gross domestic product (GDP) could reach 7.5 percent.