Greece: companies cautious on credit but upbeat in 2021

Overall trend for growth persists despite pandemic uncertainties Greece: companies cautious on credit but upbeat in 2021 COVID-19 and the following recession have had a significant impact on economies throughout the world. Greece was not the exception. Introduction Over the past few years Greece has been enjoying a relatively strong economic recovery and an overall decrease in insolvencies. At the time of this year’s Payment Practices Barometer survey, although many businesses were experiencing cash flow problems, on  the whole the country had not experienced such hard lockdown rules as some of its peers  in Western Europe. Respondents to the survey reported greater confidence in their customers’  creditworthiness for 2021 than many other counties in Europe, and also shared a similarly positive outlook towards the domestic economy. Comparing the results of this survey to previous years and also other countries in Europe provides an interesting insight. Key takeaways from the report A greater percentage of businesses in Greece than anywhere else in Western Europe turned down requests for trade credit following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic Businesses offer longer payment terms to encourage domestic sales Overdue invoices increase rapidly following onset of pandemic Late payments in Greece increased 71% year-on-year. More than half of businesses report cash flow difficulties Businesses express optimism over improvement of customer creditworthiness in 2021 Interested in getting to know more? For a complete overview of the corporate payment behaviour in Greece during the COVID-19 pandemic and global recession, please download the complete report. The report gives also insight into the impact of the pandemic-induced economic crisis on the following industries in the country: Agri-food Chemicals Consumer durables Food Services Download the full report All content on this page is subject to our Disclaimer, available here.