Miscalculation regarding austerity measures (‘fiscal consolidation’) for Greece
29.1.2013
Question for written answer E-000922-13
to the Commission
Rule 117
Jorgo Chatzimarkakis (ALDE)
In the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Working Paper WP/13/1 entitled ‘Growth Forecast Errors and Fiscal Multipliers’, published in January 2013, authors Olivier Blanchard and Daniel Leigh state that ‘forecasters significantly underestimated the increase in unemployment and the decline in private consumption and investment associated with fiscal consolidation’.
In the light of the conclusions drawn in the IMF Working Paper, the Commission is invited to answer the following:
- 1.Is it aware of any impact of that admitted miscalculation regarding the implications of the austerity measures imposed on Greece? In formulating its policy of fiscal consolidation for Greece, to what degree did it rely on data provided by the IMF?
- 2.As part of the ‘Troika’, what concrete action would the Commission consider taking in order to adapt its fiscal consolidation policy for Greece to redress this miscalculation, which may well have harmed the economic situation in the country substantially?
OJ C 354 E, 04/12/2013