ATHENS — The finance ministry will not change its forecasts for a 10.5 pct contraction of GDP in the 2020 state budget, despite the fact that provisional data announced earlier by Hellenic Statistical Authority showed signs of a deeper annual recession, because of the uncertainty over economic developments in December, Greek Finance Minister Christos Staikouras said on Friday.

Commenting on GDP data released earlier in the day, Staikouras added that the ministry will continue supporting households and enterprises for as long as it takes in 2021 to help them overcome the current ordeal with the least possible cost and to be able to recover the soonest possible.