http://msnbc.msn.com/id/15047416/

http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/provide...&ID=6062380

Greece's budget deficit is forecast to fall from 2.6 per cent to 2.4 per cent of GDP next year. But using the revised figures it would fall well below the EU's limit, from 2.1 per cent to 1.9 per cent of GDP.

Greece's public debt, among the highest in the eurozone, would meanwhile shrink at a stroke to 85 per cent of GDP from 107.5 per cent.

Mr Alogoskoufis said one reason for the leap in output was that Greece had not re-based its national accounts since 1993. Brussels requires member-states to update their accounts every five years.

Among the snags of becoming so much richer, Greece will have to contribute more to the EU budget and could lose 470m ($597m, £318m) a year in EU funds earmarked for poor countries after a review in 2010.

Thanx Eva