A government decision already in effect makes it easy for private sector employees belonging to so-called ‘vulnerable groups’ with regard to the coronavirus to ask to work from home so as not to come into contact with the public. A simple phone call, email or SMS to the boss should suffice, unless the employer can prove that work from home is not feasible. Even then, employers have to make arrangements to ensure the safety of their employees, failing which they will face hefty fines. In the coming days, the government will issue directives specifying the vulnerable groups and the medical documents required as proof.

Now that it has got some relief from the European Union, in the form of long-term, low-interest loans from the SURE program, the government is considering extending aid to employees, the self-employed and businesses hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

“Everybody knows that pestilences have a way of recurring in the world,” Albert Camus wrote in his novel “The Plague,” “Yet somehow we find it hard to believe in ones that crash down on our heads from a blue sky. There have been as many plagues as wars in history; yet always plagues and wars take people equally by surprise.”

METKA, the construction arm of Mytilineos Group, will undertake to build a segment of the Ionian highway in Western Greece.

The government will do all it can to inject liquidity in order to prevent the shrinkage of Greece’s gross domestic product (GDP) from rising into double digits this year.

The president of the Greek Tourism Confederation (SETE) is asking the government to extend measures such as subsidizing employers’ social security contributions for employees and allowing tourism businesses to suspend contracts.

Official unemployment data show the clear impact of the pandemic. In July, the number of jobless seeking employment was 1,095,997 or almost 13% higher than the 970,201 registered jobless in July 2019.

The government is racing to come up with a plan that will bring in – sooner rather than later – the €32 billion in funds that have been allocated to Greece from the European Recovery Fund.

Initial gains on the Athens Stock Exchange on Friday turned negative at the end of the session, as other European markets also ended with losses on the back of negative expectations as reflected in various Purchasing Managers’ Indices.

Soccer club Panathinaikos has rejected a 5.7-million-euro offer by subscription-based broadcaster Nova to sell its TV rights for the next season of the Greek Super League.

The agreements signed by Greece with Italy first and then Egypt, for the delimitation of the countries’ respective exclusive economic zones, were submitted to Parliament Thursday, where they are expected to be ratified on Wednesday, August 26. 

The state may cover the cost of the Covid-19 vaccine on behalf of the insured once the doses reach Greece, Μinister Christos Staikouras said on Thursday.

Greece's current account balance turned to a large deficit in June from a surplus in the same month last year on the back of a deterioration in the services balance due to a hit on tourism, the Bank of Greece said on Thursday.

The Court of Audit, Greece’s highest fiscal court, is expected to finally give the go-ahead in September for the repayment of some 1.4 billion euros in pension cuts which courts found unconstitutional.

Industrial turnover declined 3.8% in June compared to the same month last year, data published by the independent Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) show.

This fall will not be at all easy. The conservative government will have to take a deep breath before it deals with what will probably look like a storm.

There has been a sharp decline in new hirings in the period from March to May 2020, an Alpha Bank report remarks.

Finance Ministry officials have been complaining about the alleged delay the country’s independent Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) publishes data on GDP.

Egypt’s Parliament on Tuesday approved a maritime deal setting the country’s Mediterranean Sea boundary with Greece and demarcating an exclusive economic zone for oil and gas drilling rights, the state-run news agency reported.

The Greek cruise ship owners’ association (EKFN) is essentially asking for a ban on cruises this season, invoking the dangers of the pandemic.