Greece's budget deficit should drop to 8.5 percent of GDP in 2011 from 10.5 percent last year, short of a 7.4-percent target initially fixed in June, the government said on Sunday.
The figure was set out in a draft 2012 budget adopted during an extraordinary cabinet meeting on Sunday evening, a statement said.
While the deficit will hover above the target projected in June, it is better than the projection made in September by Greece's international creditors, the EU, European Central Bank andInternational Monetary Fund, which stood at around 9.5 percent of GDP, according to press reports.
The EU-IMF auditors returned to Athens on Thursday, four weeks after they abruptly left disappointed at Greece's lack of progress in implementing promised structural reform measures.
They pressed the goverment to underdake further austerity measures to reduce expenses and increase revenues.
"The additional measures that have been decided and announced for 2011 and 2012 amount to 6.6 billion euros," the finance ministry said in the statement.
In 2012, Greece expects a further reduction of public deficits, setting the target to 6.8% of gross domestic product, instead of the 6.5% forecast in June, due to a deeper recession.
"This marks the country's entry into another financial phase," the ministry said. This should enable Greece to record next year for the first time a primary surplus of 3.2 billion euros.
The 17 countries that share the debt-challenged euro currency will meet in Luxembourg on Monday and will assess Greece's budget draft, in an effort to reach an agreement on releasing a vital 8.0 billion euros bailout tranche.
The figure was set out in a draft 2012 budget adopted during an extraordinary cabinet meeting on Sunday evening, a statement said.
While the deficit will hover above the target projected in June, it is better than the projection made in September by Greece's international creditors, the EU, European Central Bank andInternational Monetary Fund, which stood at around 9.5 percent of GDP, according to press reports.
The EU-IMF auditors returned to Athens on Thursday, four weeks after they abruptly left disappointed at Greece's lack of progress in implementing promised structural reform measures.
They pressed the goverment to underdake further austerity measures to reduce expenses and increase revenues.
"The additional measures that have been decided and announced for 2011 and 2012 amount to 6.6 billion euros," the finance ministry said in the statement.
In 2012, Greece expects a further reduction of public deficits, setting the target to 6.8% of gross domestic product, instead of the 6.5% forecast in June, due to a deeper recession.
"This marks the country's entry into another financial phase," the ministry said. This should enable Greece to record next year for the first time a primary surplus of 3.2 billion euros.
The 17 countries that share the debt-challenged euro currency will meet in Luxembourg on Monday and will assess Greece's budget draft, in an effort to reach an agreement on releasing a vital 8.0 billion euros bailout tranche.
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