Melanie Debono

Foreign analysts appear more pessimistic than the Bank of Greece's baseline scenario for 0 percent growth this year due to the coronavirus epidemic, saying a recession appears inevitable, especially in the first half of the year, mainly due to tourism.

The recent health crisis is dampening hopes of a credit rating upgrade for Greece. According to Capital Economics economist Melanie Debono, "it is now highly unlikely that any government will be upgraded by the credit rating agencies in the near future, given that the world is on the verge of a deep recession. Greece is not immune from this."