ATHENS (AFP) - Greece's national statistics agency revised upwards on Monday the country's 2011 deficit and public debt figures, which will likely further complicate efforts to meet fiscal targets set by international creditors for bailout aid.
According to the still provisional data, the 2011 deficit stood at 9.4 percent of gross domestic product and the public debt at 170.6 percent, EL.STAT said.
"The revisions as regards the debt ratios are primarily due to the update of gross domestic product estimates," the agency said in a statement.
Earlier this month EL.STAT revised the estimate for the economy's performance last year to a 7.1-percent contraction from an earlier calculation of 6.9 percent.
In April, the statistics authority had estimated that the public deficit stood at 9.1 percent of gross domestic product.
While more than three times the EU limit, it was close to the 9.0 percent target.
The country is trying to squeeze the deficit down to 6.6 percent of GDP this year.
In April, public debt was estimated to have reached 165.3 percent of GDP, whereas the EU limit is 60 percent of output.
Despite a rollover earlier this year, Greece's debt is expected to increase from 169.5 percent of output in 2012 to 179.3 percent in 2013 according to next year's draft budget.
Heading for a sixth year of recession, Greece has been relying on international aid packages for its financial survival and is currently in negotiations with its EU-IMF creditors to unblock a 31.2-billion-euro ($41 billion) tranche of aid.
