In order to prevent the nation’s economy from further harm caused by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Greece’s government intends to inject another 2.5 billion euros ($3 billion) into its already struggling economy. Currently, the Mediterranean nation finds itself coming to grips with an overwhelmed healthcare system while at the same time attempting to recover from the damage inflicted by the coronavirus pandemic.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, whose conservative government took charge in 2019, made an announcement on Thursday explaining that the total amount of funds put towards aiding businesses and generating jobs would be increased from 7.5 billion euros to 11.6 billion euros.
Having already felt the burn from a decade-long debt crisis, Greece has undergone several nationwide lockdowns as a means of combatting the COVID-19 outbreak. While its vaccination campaign is currently in progress, the country’s reported cases continue to rise on an increasing slope.
Some of the measures that the government undertook to enforce include forgiving up to 50% of all government loans to businesses, subsidizing monthly repayments for COVID-19-hit businesses by up to 90%, and providing grants for some fixed costs such as rents, energy, and telecommunications.
Greece is also looking to reopen the country to tourists in May; a move aimed at reviving the crippled tourism industry which accounts for one-fifth of the country’s economy.
