Greece's finance minister says the crisis-afflicted economy will shrink more than expected this year, putting pressure on the country's deficit-cutting effort.

Evangelos Venizelos said Monday that the ministry forecasts the economy to shrink between 4.5 percent and 5.3 percent in 2011 — considerably worse than initially estimated.

Venizelos told a press conference he will discuss the matter with representatives of Greece's international creditors during talks in Athens this week.

He said that, provided all austerity measures are fully implemented, the government should meet its target of cutting budget overspending from 10.5 percent of GDP to 7.5 percent this year.

Greece is surviving on rescue loans worth 220 billion euros ($317 billion) from its European partners and the International Monetary Fund.