ATHENS — Greece has the potential to enter a sustainable cycle of growth with the implementation of its policy and the exploitation of Community funds after the end of the pandemic crisis that has hit the global and Greek economy, Greek Finance Minister Christos Staikouras said on Tuesday, addressing an Economist conference.

Referring to the impact of the pandemic on the Greek economy, Staikouras said that based on the provisional data available, the Greek economy contracted by 7.9 pct in the first half of the year, which was lower than the 9.0 pct average contraction in the Eurozone. He said this was the result of the timely implementation of a package of measures and interventions by the government, exploiting the existing fiscal flexibility. He noted that the measures, worth 24 billion euros or more, aimed to protect human lives and public health and to support households and enterprises. He said that the country's cash reserves have been strengthened following six successful bond issues, worth 14 billion euros. The cash reserves, currently at 37.8 billion euros, were expected to rise further with the exploitation of existing European financing tools.

Staikouras noted, however, that the government was not celebrating as it knows that there are still national, social and economic challenges ahead.