Minister: Greek Economy Overcomes Corona Blow and Forest Fires

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The Greek economy will emerge from the double blow of both the corona pandemic and the massive forest fires in the country. This is mainly due to better-than-expected income from tourism. That expectation expressed the Greek Finance Minister Christos Staikouras.

The Greek government expects the economy to grow by 3.6 percent this year. Staikouras called this percentage achievable and even stated that this estimate might be too conservative. The previously prepared budget of Greece had previously assumed growth of 4.8 percent this year, but Staikouras quickly reversed that. In April, the estimate was revised down to 4.2 percent. He did that again in July.

Greek national production plummeted by 8.2 percent last year. The corona pandemic dealt a hard blow to the global travel sector that virtually came to a standstill. The country reopened its borders to foreign travellers in May. For this year, 45 percent of the income was previously expected compared to the period before the crisis. But according to the minister, it is currently 70 percent compared to before the crisis.

Tourism is one of the primary sources of income for Greece. The sector accounts for 20 percent of gross domestic product. However, tourism income fell to 4.3 billion euros last year, from 18 billion euros in 2019. Tourist numbers fell by more than three quarters to just 7.4 million holidaymakers, the Greek Confederation of Tourism reported.

Greece, meanwhile, has spent billions of euros on keeping businesses afloat during the lockdowns. In addition, a lot of money will be needed to support residents in the areas devastated by the forest fires over the past three weeks. Staikouras said the government would allocate an additional EUR 500 million this year.