U, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC

Diplomatic representation in US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Loucas TSILAS
chancery: 2221 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 939-5800
FAX: [1] (202) 939-5824
consulate(s) general: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles,
New York, and San Francisco
consulate(s): New Orleans

US diplomatic representation:
chief of mission: Ambassador Thomas M.T. NILES
embassy: 91 Vasilissis Sophias Boulevard, 10160 Athens
mailing address: PSC 108, Athens; APO AE 09842
telephone: [30] (1) 721-2951, 8401
FAX: [30] (1) 645-6282
consulate(s) general: Thessaloniki

Flag: nine equal horizontal stripes of blue alternating with white;
there is a blue square in the upper hoist-side corner bearing a white
cross; the cross symbolizes Greek Orthodoxy, the established religion
of the country

@Greece:Economy

Overview: Greece has a mixed capitalist economy with the basic
entrepreneurial system overlaid in 1981-89 by a socialist system that
enlarged the public sector from 55% of GDP in 1981 to about 70% in
1989. Since then, the public sector has been reduced to about 60% of
GDP. Tourism continues as a major source of foreign exchange, and
agriculture is self-sufficient except for meat, dairy products, and
animal feedstuffs. Over the last decade, real GDP growth has averaged
1.6% a year, compared with the European Union average of 2.2%.
Inflation continues to be well above the EU average, and the national
debt has reached 140% of GDP, the highest in the EU. Prime Minister
PAPANDREOU will probably make only limited progress correcting the
economy's problems of high inflation, large budget deficit, and
decaying infrastructure. His economic program suggests that although
he will shun his expansionary policies of the 1980s, he will avoid
tough measures needed to slow inflation or reduce the state's role in
the economy. He has limited the previous government's privatization
plans, for example, and has called for generous welfare spending and
real wage increases. Athens continues to rely heavily on EU aid, which
recently has amounted to about 6% of GDP. Greece almost certainly will
not meet the EU's Maastricht Treaty convergence targets of public
deficit held to 3% of GDP and national debt to 60% of GDP by 1999. Per
capita GDP has fallen below Portugal's level, the lowest among EU
members.

National product: GDP - purchasing power parit