Despite the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on its economy and society, “Greece has taken the necessary actions to achieve its due specific reform commitments”, the European Commission said in the sixth enhanced surveillance report on the country, released on Monday. The Commission recommended that the Eurogroup releases a tranche of 748 million euros.
“The next set of policy-contingent debt measures worth 748 million euros,” it said, were agreed at the Eurogroup on June 22, 2018.
The measures “include the transfer of income equivalent amounts stemming from central banks’ holdings of Greek government bonds under the Securities Markets Programme and the Agreement on Net Financial Assets and a waiver for the step-up interest margin for certain loans provided by the European Financial Stability Facility.”
In its overall assessment, the report said, “The outbreak of the coronavirus has fundamentally altered the social and economic reality in Greece, as in most other member states. The Greek government reacted quickly and started implementing measures aimed at containing the spread of the coronavirus already at the end of February. Similar to other member states, the containment measures have severely restricted economic activity and affected, directly or indirectly, a large part of the labour force.”
The report concludes that “considering the extraordinary circumstances posed by the coronavirus outbreak, Greece has taken the necessary actions to achieve its due specific reform commitments.”
