ATHENS, Jan 31 (Reuters) - Greece's economy is seen growing by 4.5% to 5.0% this year under a baseline scenario after a projected 9.0% to 9.5% rebound in 2021, the country's influential think tank IOBE said on Monday, raising its previous 4.0%-4.5% growth forecast made in October.
"Despite the fact that last year's base will be higher, we are revising growth a bit upwards as the economy shows strong dynamism," IOBE head Nikos Vettas said.
Last year the economy relied on the resilience of the tourism sector, with revenues jumping 76.6% year-on-year in the first nine months of 2021, he said.
Under its baseline scenario, the think tank expects another strong performance this year with tourism revenues reaching 80% to 90% of the record seen in 2019.
The think tank's projection is slightly above the government's 4.5% growth forecast for this year.
The projected expansion will help bring down unemployment to an average of 13.5% next year, the IOBE said.
Consumer inflation, which climbed to an annual 5.1% clip in December mainly due to higher energy costs is expected to slow to 1.5%-2.0% in 2022.
"This inflation rate is not something the economy cannot handle," Vettas said. (Reporting by George Georgiopoulos; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel)
