Greek prime minister says austerity is over

ATHENS, Greece — Prime Minister Antonis Samaras of Greece seized on new economic data Saturday that indicated the country was on track to economic recovery and promised relief to Greeks weary of years of punishing austerity.

“Greece is turning the page,” Samaras told politicians and entrepreneurs at an annual international trade fair in the northern port of Thessaloniki, traditionally used by Greek prime ministers to outline their government’s economic policy for the coming year. “There will be no more austerity measures,” he said.

Citing figures released Friday by the national statistics agency, Samaras said the Greek economy shrank 3.8 percent in the second quarter, significantly less than an estimate of 4.6 percent. It was the smallest contraction since 2010, when Greece signed its first multibillion-euro loan deal with its so-called troika of creditors — the European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund.

The improvement is largely the result of an unexpectedly strong rebound in the country’s crucial tourism sector, with a record 18 million foreign visitors expected this year, he said.

Equally encouraging are early indications that the country will achieve this year a primary surplus — a budget surplus not counting debt financing, Samaras said. He said this would be the “first decisive step toward exiting the policy of memorandums,” referring to Greece’s two loan agreements since 2010, worth a total of 240 billion euros ($315 billion).

Samaras said the surplus would open the way for two things — some form of debt relief for Greece, but also the chance to help citizens who have been hardest hit by austerity.