Greek reform package worth 12 bln euros to offset recession

ATHENS, July 9 (Reuters) - Greece is planning a reform package worth 12 billion euros over two years, more than previously planned to offset a return to recession after months of difficult negotiations with creditors, the Greek daily Kathimerini reported.

The report said that instead of growing by 0.5 percent this year, months of uncertainty and almost two weeks of capital controls meant "there are estimates of a recession of about 3 percent."

"It is estimated that the measures of 8 billion euros that Greece had presented for 2015 and 2016 will have to be increased by 2 billion euros per year, raising the total to 12 billion euros for the two years," Kathimerini reported.

Greece last year emerged from a deep recession that shrank its gross domestic product by a quarter over a six-year period.

The left-wing government of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras faces a Friday deadline to submit a reform-for-aid proposal that its European partners, if satisfied, would endorse on Sunday. If not Greece faces exiting the euro zone.

(Reporting by George Georgiopoulos; Writing by Matt Robinson, editing by Deepa Babington)