Less gloomy Greek consumers ease economic mood in November

ATHENS (Reuters) - Greek consumers' pessimism about the economy diminished in November after fears that the country might have to quit the euro zone subsided, data showed on Tuesday.

The Foundation for Economic and Industrial Research (IOBE) said its economic sentiment index rose to a 20-month high of 79.0 points in November from 75.8 in October, despite weaker readings in industry and construction.

Greece's parliament approved early last month a 13.5 billion euro ($17.3 billion) package of savings and labor reforms. This was a key demand by the country's international lenders and opened the way for the release of a long-delayed aid tranche, which eased fears about Athens leaving the euro zone.

"The voting of the new measures by parliament helped to lift some of the uncertainty, despite the significant impact the austerity will have on a large part of the population," the IOBE said.

The measures included cuts in public sector pay, pensions and welfare benefits to get the budget to a primary surplus next year for the first time since 2002.

The IOBE bases its index on consumer confidence gauges and business expectations in manufacturing, construction, retail and services.

"The passage of the measures helped ease concerns about the country's course in the near future. A small return of deposits in the banking system was noted, without this meaning that overall pessimism declined significantly," the think tank said.

Greece's economy is projected to contract for a sixth straight year in 2013, with national output seen declining by 4.5 percent according to the latest government forecasts. The new savings are expected to prolong the economic slump which has already driven the jobless rate to 25.4 percent.

With unemployment at this record level and wages squeezed by higher taxes, Greek households remain the most pessimistic in Europe - followed by consumers in Hungary and Portugal.

The IOBE said the percentage of consumers expecting unemployment to worsen was steady at 90 percent, with 22 percent of households tapping savings to get by.

The rise in Greece's overall economic sentiment in November was in line with an improvement in the broader euro zone reading in the same month to 85.7 from 84.3 in October.

(Reporting by George Georgiopoulos; editing by Stephen Nisbet)