Athens---Greece's recovery stalled in the final quarter of last year as the economy contracted by 0.2 percent, data released Friday by the state statistics agency showed.
For 2014 as a whole the Greek economy grew by a better-than-expected 0.8 percent, as the finance ministry had been expecting only 0.6 percent growth for the year.
The quarter-on-quarter contraction was the first since Greece in exited a six-year recession last year.
Economic reforms under Greece's 240-billion-euro ($270 billion) bailout slowed after a government reshuffle in June and in the last weeks of the year, the country was locked in political uncertainty over efforts to elect a new president.
The failure to elect a president triggered early elections in January that saw the anti-austerity Syriza come to power and is currently locked in tense negotiations to reverse many reforms but also lower taxes and increase social spending to boost growth.
In an annual comparison, the economy grew by 1.7 percent in the fourth quarter, the third straight rise in output, after increases of 0.4 percent and 1.6 percent in the second and third quarters respectively, the statistics agency said.
AFP
