ATHENS — "The government has no excuse for not injecting liquidity into the market and not supporting Greek companies and employees," said main opposition SYRIZA sector-head for economic affairs Nikos Pappas in an interview with the Athens-Macedonian News Agency's radio station 'Praktoreio 104.5 FM' on Thursday.

Pappas stressed the need to channel money directly into the market and to support businesses and jobs.

"There is irrationality (in the returnable advance payments)," said Pappas, arguing that it is essentially a government loan taken out by companies that do not need it, whereas those that really do need it are not entitled to it.

"It does not provide a solution," Pappas said, adding: "We have proposed an immediate aid package that is closed into an account and covers very specific needs that have amassed during the coronavirus period. If this Gordian knot is not 'cut' horizontally – because 87 pct of the sectors are affected – we will find ourselves in a situation where the large sea of small and medium-sized enterprises in Greece, which support the vast majority of employment, will have difficulty meeting their obligations."

Regarding whether the banking system responded to the strengthening of market liquidity, Pappas noted: "Banks continue to close their door to the companies that their doors were closed to previously."