Government decisions regarding the non-performing loans would be announced by the end of October, and not September as originally expected, told Deputy Development Minister Gerasimos Giakoumatos to the Parliament on Thursday, in response to a parliamentary question tabled by Democratic Left’s Assimina Xyrotiri, who noted that 230,000 small to medium-sized companies had gone out of business in Greece since 2007. Giakoumatos stressed that the government was not turning its back away from the problems faced by thousands of Greeks unable to pay back loans and was working on finding the best possible solution.