GREEK ECONOMY

The statistics service said the unemployment rate was 16.2 pct in the first quarter, totaling 745,093 unemployed people, from 16.8 pct in the previous quarter and 19.2 pct in the corresponding period last year.

Staikouras added that this "proved the markets recognize the effectiveness of the government's cohesive plan and its reliability over the management of the health crisis and its economic repercussions."

According to sources, the BoG is looking at the DTC issue at a new level in order to find an overall solution to the banking problem. Particular emphasis will be placed on separating non-performing loans incurred before the pandemic and those that arose after the pandemic, taking into account the rules on state aid.

The plan involves the construction of an elevated highway from the height of Papageorgiou Hospital to an area called Konstantinopolitika and then the widening of the road until Kardia.

According to the ministry, the Greek economy suffers a triple shock: one temporary but very strong shock in supply. A lockdown reduces production of goods and services, along with incomes of producers and labour force, a very strong shock in demand as a lockdown reduces consumption and third a very strong shock of uncertainty since both the duration and intensity of the phenomenon were unknown.

The lockdown does not solve the problem: the country, the government is simply saving time to curb the epidemic and to best handle a difficult situation. Additionally, the lockdown does not protect the vulnerable, a lot of work still needs to be done to support these groups, who continue to move about and put their lives at risk.

Today's lockdown, the culmination of measures to curb the epidemic, will further reduce whatever financial transactions were still taking place. It is doubtful whether the magnitude of the disruption to the economy has been understood, and whether the impact can be quantified.

The economic collapse that has been taking place in recent weeks has been unprecedented: thousands of overnight cancellations in AirBnB apartments, occupancy rates at Athens hotels at less than 20 percent, unprecedented cancellations in summer destinations, empty shopping malls, brakes drawn on trucks transporting industrial products and raw materials, large companies with a strategic role in the economy, such as Ae

Shocks to the economy are growing and forecasts are being revised lower day by day, while gloomy scenarios for GDP foresee losses of up to 2 billion euros for this year. If the coronavirus continues to spread at the same rate in the next two months, the economic downturn will be massive.

The forecast drop in gross domestic product for 2020 ranges from 0.4 percent to 0.9 percent, in comparison with initial estimates for the year, according to analysts from Alpha Bank. According to the bank, this year's growth momentum, and especially the next quarter's, will be determined, by the duration of the Covid-19 epidemic and Greece's refugee crisis.