ENGLISH EDITION

Τhe central bank's main goal is to prevent one of the biggest risks posed by the new turmoil to the global economy from the coronavirus epidemic: to find and healthy and sustainable businesses suffering liquidity problems, that may otherwise reduce their operations, or even shut down, due to the deteriorating conditions.

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.

In comments to analysts in a conference call on Monday, Ellaktor chairman Giorgos Provopoulos said the share came under heavy selling pressure due to "baseless" and "unethical" rumors that were circulated by certain investors. The chairman repeated that he has no intention to step down from the board.

The impact on the real economy will be determined by the duration of the epidemic and the progress made in tackling it. If the epidemic eases, with the help of improved weather, or a vaccine, then a rapid reversal of the situation can occur. Adversely, if it continues to spread, then the effects can be drastic, especially in countries with fragile economies, such as Greece.

"A diplomatic marathon has already been announced in the coming days and we are waiting to see how it develops. On Monday, the prime minister will meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and on Tuesday with Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz. Regarding refugee-migration, we are on the same grounds with Germany in order to proceed with a Dublin 4 review in August, not now, which will definitely have a burden-sharing mechanism."

«We are here to underscore our firm commitment to this project, to this port, to support American investment and also we are here to demonstrate our solidarity with the people of Greece and the people of this region in a difficult time» the U.S. State Department's Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, Matthew Palmer.

Construction company Ellator is facing growing challenges after talk of changes to its top management, and that of subsidiary Aktor, drove the stock more than 35 percent lower on the Athens bourse in the last few days. The company denies the speculation. Mid-session on Friday, shares were off some 5.5 percent on the Athens bourse trading at around 0.78 euros, after plummeting 20 percent on Thursday. This brings losses to some 65 percent since hitting a twelve month high of 2.25 euros in August.

Tourism Minister Haris Theoharis had a series of meetings with several German government officials during his visit to Berlin, as well as senior Condor Airlines executives, who informed him that the airline has 150 scheduled flights to Greece each week, to 16 different destinations in the country. Theoharis was in Berlin on Thursday.

The move aims to meet demands made by the European Central Bank (ECB ) calling for additional guarantees to be provided for the securitized assets to carry a zero risk weighting amidst resistance from Greece to put up cash to meet this condition. Above all, the updated plan aims to solve a crucial technical problem: avoid triggering the negative pledge clause included in Greek government bonds in a development that could have serious consequences for the economy.