ATHENS — The monthly fiscal cost from a possible full lockdown in Attica will exceed 3.0 billion euros, Finance Minister Christos Staikouras said on Tuesday, adding that the ministry was ready to deal with any cost. In comments made to ANT1 TV, Staikouras said that the cost of the existing measures was 2.5 billion euros and stressed that the government was making a prudent management of resources to conserve its strength.

This was the reason, he explained, why the government was able to cover part of the losses suffered by those hit by the pandemic crisis but not their full extent. He defended the ministry's choices for the support of the economy and said that the actions taken were in many cases more generous than those taken by other European countries. He pointed out, however, that the country was still operating under an enhanced surveillance regime.