A Greek national flag flutters as people visit a beach, following the coronavirus disease outbreak, in Athens April 28, 2020. — Reuters pic
“The consequences of this coronavirus attack will undoubtedly be dramatic,” he told parliament on Thursday. Greece this year had been counting on a growth spurt of 2.4 per cent. After exiting the final debt crisis bailout in 2018, its borrowing rates were at historic lows — in October Athens even sold treasury bills at a negative rate — and it has cash reserves of more than €36 billion at hand.
Petrakis also believes that the economic impact of this crisis will be less protracted. The IMF itself estimates a 5.5 per cent Greek recovery in 2021. “Last summer I had 10 tables outside and 10 inside. Now, I will just have three tables outside and I’m supposed to make do,” says Costas Gogos, owner of a tavern in the port of Rafina near Athens.
In the years that followed, a quarter of Greek national output would be wiped out in wave upon wave of wage and pension cuts and tax hikes demanded by the so-called troika of creditors.