Ten billion euros in support measures for the domestic market over the next months

The Greek government will disburse around 10 billion euros to the domestic market in the next few months in support measures to deal with the consequences of the pandemic, Finance Minister Christos Staikouras said on Monday, adding that "the longer the crisis lasts on a global, European and national level, the more difficult the task will be to achieve the goals of the previous period in such a short period of time".

In comments made to "Real FM" radio, Staikouras said that the economic recession in Greece does not have the intensity of that in other countries and noted that the Greek economy had solid foundations and a dynamism in the previous six-month period, adding that the government swiftly took measures during the pandemic crisis. The Greek FinMin said that tourism is progressing according to the basic scenario.

"Travel revenue was 680 million euros in the first half, 800 million in July and around 1.5 billion euros in August. This means that there are enough revenues from tourism," he said. Staikouras said that state budget revenues were up compared with initial targets and noted that "based on current data we stick to our forecast for an 8.0 pct economic recession this year".