ATHENS – With the focus on surviving the COVID-19 Coronavirus, the economic aftermath of a lockdown aimed at preventing the spread of the illness will be so severe that some 100,000 small businesses will never reopen.
That was the finding of a report by the Institute of Small Enterprises of the Hellenic Confederation of Professionals, Craftsmen & Merchants (IME-GSEVEE) based on a survey by Marc researchers about the devastating effect of the lockdown.
The closing of non-essential businesses began on March 23 and is due to last at least until May 10 but could be extended by Prime Minister and New Democracy leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis if scientific and medical data warrants it, he said.
The survey found that 13 percent of businesses that will keep operating will lay off about 250,000 workers, including the self-employed, after other estimates the jobless rate could soar to more than 22 percent and bring back the nightmare of an economic and austerity crisis that lasted almost a decade, and with a slow recovery coming.
Already, 21 percent of companies still operating have already slashed staff numbers, the report noted.
Read more at thenationalherald.com
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