Greek economy to shrink by up to 3% in 2011

Greece's ecomomy will contract by up to 3 percent next year, the country's finance minister said on Wednesday.

"Growth will contract by 4 percent this year, and next year by between 2.5 and 3 percent," Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou told an economic conference.

In the 2011 draft budget published earlier this month, the Greek government estimated that the country's GDP would shrink by 2.6 percent next year from a 4 percent contraction in 2010.