Greek exports jump 4.3 % in first half of the year

Greece reported Monday a 4.3-per-cent jump in exports during the first half of 2012 compared with the same period last year as the debt-hit nation struggles to emerge from five years of recession. According to dpa, the nation's statistics office said the total value of exports rose to 8.2 billion euros (10.4 billion dollars) in the six months of the year. This represented a 19.3-per-cent gain when compared with the first half of 2010. But underscoring the feeble state of the Greek economy, imports slumped by about 10 per cent to 15.2 billion euros in the first half when compared with the same period in 2011. Imports were down 22 per cent compared with 2011.