ATHENS — Companies representing 69 pct of the total turnover of Greek enterprises were directly hit by the Covid-19 pandemic as a result of lockdown restrictions and a shut down of operations, a survey conducted by Grant Thornton said on Monday.

The survey focused on the expected impact on economic conditions due to the crisis, particularly on the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and companies' liquidity. Grant Thornton said that companies with an accumulated turnover of 32.9 billion euros (11 pct of total turnover), employing around 1.1 million workers (25 pct of total workforce) temporarily shut down operations due to the pandemic. The country's GDP is expected to contract by 8.5 pct in 2020, reflecting the impact of the pandemic on high added-value sectors, such as tourism, transport and hospitality. The tourism sector is expected to shrink by 52 pct this year, the survey said. The survey also analysed a sample of 17,000 enterprises with an accumulated turnover of more than 50 pct of total turnover in the country, which showed that these companies expected a 12.4 pct decline in their turnover this year and a 39 pct drop in EBITDA. Liquidity is projected to fall by 5.6 billion euros in 2020.