Greece's economy unexpectedly returned to growth in the second quarter despite political turmoil and the threat of a Greek euro zone exit, data showed on Thursday.
Gross domestic product expanded 0.8% from April to June, according to a flash estimate from statistics service ELSTAT.
This was far above forecasts for a 0.8% contraction quarter-on-quarter. In a boost for Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras's leftist government, revised data also showed that Greece posted no growth or decline in economic output in the first quarter instead of a previously reported 0.2% contraction.
That meant the country did not enter into a recession at the start of the year as previously believed - a slide that was expected to have been exacerbated by Tsipras' hard line against the austerity imposed by international lenders