Greece’s Prime Minister does not expect living standards to recover fully for another six years

GREECE should return to economic growth in 2014, ending six years of recession, European Commission boss Jose Manuel Barroso predicted yesterday.

But the country’s Prime Minister Antonis Samaras warned it will take another six years for living standards in the troubled Mediterranean country to return to pre-crash levels.

He argues this is a more optimistic forecast than some economy watchers’ outlooks.

“We will not need a couple of decades, not a couple of generations, but only six years to get back at the pre-crisis levels of our standard of living and GDP,” he said. “Despite everything, all the hardships and some bitter words exchanged in the process, Greece’s example will eventually stand as a European success.”

Unemployment in the country stands at a record high of 27.9 per cent.