Christos Staikouras

Finance Minister Christos Staikouras on Monday welcomed a decision by a Eurogroup meeting to ease the Greek debt to the tune of 767 million euros.

The fourth phase of the cheap state loans program known as the "Deposit To Be Returned" that is supposed to end on Monday may be extended due to the great interest in it, Finance Minister Christos Staikouras told Mega TV on Saturday.

Greece aspires to turn the new development at Elliniko into a Monaco-like magnet for wealthy entrepreneurs and businesses from abroad, not just for pensioners permanent relocating to Greece.

All emergency tax reductions and the permanent tax breaks ratified before the onset of the pandemic will apply in 2021, with the cheap state loans program also running into next year, Finance Minister Christos Staikouras assured on Saturday.

Finance Minister Christos Staikouras has appointed Michalis Masourakis as Greece's new representative to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), according to a ministry statement on Tuesday.
On September 1 Masourakis will succeed Michalis Psalidopoulos who leaves its post after five years and whom the government and the ministry thanked for his contribution and cooperation.

The Eurogroup acknowledged on Thursday the positive course of the Greek economy before the pandemic and the government's rapid reaction to the spread of the coronavirus, and gave the nod for measures benefiting Athens to the tune of 748 million euros.

The ministers of finance and labor submitted an amendment Wednesday which provides that the state will not only cover 60 percent of the salary lost by workers whose working hours were reduced due to the coronavirus pandemic, but also 60 percent of employers' insurance contributions for employees who have been included in the labor subsidy program.

Greece raised 3 billion euros ($3.4 billion) Tuesday in its third bond issue of the year, managing to wrap up most of its annual borrowing needs before the end of the first half.

The coronavirus measures that were introduced in late February and led to a lockdown in the second half of March were enough to turn the gross domestic product data for the entire first quarter of 2020 negative - albeit at a significantly slower rate than in the rest of the eurozone - according to data issued on Thursday by the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT).

In a bid to bolster growth and cover the ground lost this year as soon as possible, the government is considering a second reduction to the corporate income tax deposit in 2021, as a bonus spurring enterprises to carry out investments next year.