ATHENS — The Greek economy can endure a possible second lockdown, Finance Minister Christos Staikouras said on Tuesday. In comments made to SKAI TV, Staikouras added that the government has not so far revised its estimate for an 8.0 pct economic recession this year, but warned that there was serious uncertainty on this score, since the data changed on a weekly basis. "You could see me changing these estimates next week," he stressed. He reaffirmed that the expected economic growth forecasted for next year will not fully cover this year's losses.

Staikouras also said that the ministry will legislate to allow taxpayers to pay the first two tranches of a special property tax (September and October) by the end of October if they wished to, without any surcharges.