Last year, Greece registered a primary budget surplus of €7.4 billion in the year ended November, or nearly €4 billion over its target due to lower spending and higher revenues. The IMF has pressured Europe to cut Greece’s budget target to a primary surplus of 1.5% of gross domestic product instead of its current goal of 3.5%.
However, some market observers have doubts regarding the country’s ability to ever repay its debts.
“Greece still has roughly €300 billion in debt, and its economy has slipped back into recession, but this agreement could give the International Monetary Fund the ability to persuade euro-zone creditors to provide added debt relief for Greece. With more debt relief, the IMF could offer more financial help,” according to Barron’s.
GREK, which debuted in December 2011, has $328.4 million in assets under management. The ETF holds 32 stocks, over half of which are financial services or energy names.
For more information on the Greek markets, visit our Greece category.