One in five small businesses in Greece faces imminent closure danger due to economic crisis

One in five small businesses in Greece faces the danger of closure in the following months due to economic crisis which has hit hard the country, according to a survey released on Wednesday by GSEVEE, a union representing small businesses.

About 20.9 percent of small businesses operating in Greece has been struggling to survive since the breakout of the crisis in late 2009 and by the end of 2011 at least 175,000 businesses would close, Greek analysts estimate.

According to their scenario for the short-term future of the sector, by 2011 more than 120,000 job positions could be lost and by 2012 further 180,000 people could be left unemployed across Greece.

Eight out of 10 small businesses in the debt-ridden country report a negative economic situation this year and a 67.1 percent of the 960 entrepreneurs who took part in the survey, forecast a deterioration of the situation in the following months.

GSEVEE President Dimitris Asimakopoulos urged the government to give initiatives to entrepreneurs to secure job positions instead of adding more burdens to small businesses, such as raising taxes.

Greece, which escaped a bankruptcy this spring, races to fully implement a Stability and Growth Program to slash a budget deficit that stands at 13.6 percent of GDP to less than three percent by 2014 and put the national economy back on the track of development.

Athens secured a 110 billion euros ( 139.6 billion U.S. dollars) financial aid by European partners and the International Monetary Fund in May in exchange of austerity measures and structural reforms that leaves the Greek government a small space to maneuver.

Source: Xinhua