Αssociated Press reports from Athens that Greece’s budget deficit has widened due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, which has slammed the key tourism sector and is pushing the country into recession.
Greece’s Finance Ministry said Thursday that the primary deficit figure for the state budget, the balance before debt servicing costs, stood at 4.84 billion euros ($5.41 billion) during the first five months of the year. In the first four months, it was 1.52 billion ($1.7 billion).
With its strong reliance on tourism, Greece is headed back into a major recession this year. Finance Minister Christos Staikouras announced Wednesday that the government expected the country to suffer a contraction of 8% of gross domestic product in 2020 with a whopping 16% downturn in the second quarter of the year. Greece had originally expected its economy to grow by 2.8% with the recovery gathering pace after years of financial crisis and recession.
RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations, Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report
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