By George Georgiopoulos
ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece's economy will continue to recover at a moderate clip of around 1.8% this year, the influential Greek think-tank IOBE predicted on Wednesday, trimming a previous forecast.
The new forecast by the Foundation of Economic and Industrial Research in its quarterly review is close to the central bank's 1.9% projected rate. It previously saw an expansion rate of 2.0%.
Greece's economy is recovering from a 10-year recession. It has to a large extent corrected the imbalances of its twin deficits - its fiscal derailment and the current account gap.
The 180 billion euro economy grew at an annual 1.9% last year as the country emerged from its third and last bailout program in August 2018.
The economy's annual expansion pace decelerated to 1.3% in this year's first quarter from a downwardly revised 1.5% in the previous quarter.
IOBE predicted that Greece's unemployment rate, the highest in the euro zone at 18.1% in March, will decline at a slower pace this year to settle slightly below 18%. It predicted stronger job growth in export sectors.