The International Monetary Fund said Monday that Greece's huge public debt remains sustainable in the medium term despite “unprecedented uncertainty” to all sectors of the economy because of the pandemic.
Following completion of a new round of monitoring discussions with Athens, the IMF said Greece's economy is expected to contract 9.5% this year before expanding 5.7% in 2021. The public debt will reach a record high 208% of gross domestic product this year before decreasing to 199% in 2021 — compared to an already high 181% in 2019.
The IMF, together with Greece's European bailout creditors, continues to monitor the economy beyond the end of the acute 2010-2018 financial crisis and rescue loan program that kept the country afloat after it lost access to international markets.
It said the medium-term economic recovery would be “supported by a recovery in private consumption, investment linked to privatization and the first tranches of (European Union) grants, and higher goods exports.”
The IMF added that the rise in public debt vulnerabilities would be mitigated by the EU funds and the government's sizeable cash buffer, “resulting in an adequate repayment capacity.”
It said the pandemic brings “unprecedented uncertainty and downside risks to all sectors of the economy, amplified by Greece's crisis legacies.”
“The main risks arise from a prolonged pandemic that would derail the anticipated rebound in tourism, and a significant deterioration of bank balance sheets,” the IMF said.
Tourism accounts for up to a fifth of Greece's economy, but has been clobbered by the pandemic this year.
Monday's statement also commended the Greek government for its response to the pandemic, which, it said, “has been swift, sizable, and appropriately targeted at hard-hit households and businesses.”
Also Monday, Greece's EU bailout creditors approved the release of a further 767 million euros ($916 million) in debt relief measures for Athens.
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump on Sunday fired off another warning to the government of Cuba as the close ally of Venezuela braces for potential widespread unrest after Nicolás Maduro was deposed as Venezuela's leader.
Cuba, a major beneficiary of Venezuelan oil, has now been cut off from those shipments as U.S. forces continue to seize tankers in an effort to control the production, refining and global distribution of the country's oil products.
Trump said on social media that Cuba long lived off Venezuelan oil and money and had offered security in return, “BUT NOT ANYMORE!”
“THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA - ZERO!” Trump said in the post as he spent the weekend at his home in southern Florida. “I strongly suggest they make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.” He did not explain what kind of deal.
The Cuban government said 32 of its military personnel were killed during the American operation last weekend that captured Maduro. The personnel from Cuba’s two main security agencies were in Caracas, the Venezuelan capital, as part of an agreement between Cuba and Venezuela.
“Venezuela doesn’t need protection anymore from the thugs and extortionists who held them hostage for so many years,” Trump said Sunday. “Venezuela now has the United States of America, the most powerful military in the World (by far!), to protect them, and protect them we will.”
Trump also responded to another account’s social media post predicting that his secretary of state, Marco Rubio, will be president of Cuba: “Sounds good to me!” Trump said.
Trump and top administration officials have taken an increasingly aggressive tone toward Cuba, which had been kept economically afloat by Venezuela. Long before Maduro's capture, severe blackouts were sidelining life in Cuba, where people endured long lines at gas stations and supermarkets amid the island’s worst economic crisis in decades.
Trump has said previously that the Cuban economy, battered by years of a U.S. embargo, would slide further with the ouster of Maduro.
“It’s going down,” Trump said of Cuba. “It’s going down for the count.”
A person watches the oil tanker Ocean Mariner, Monrovia, arrive to the bay in Havana, Cuba, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
President Donald Trump attends a meeting with oil executives in the East Room of the White House, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
