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Athens News Agency: News in English, 10-11-19

Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

  • [01] PM calls for stepped up deficit-reduction effort
  • [02] ND leader to meet with 'troika'
  • [03] Strikes by municipal workers on Friday
  • [04] No slowdown in fiscal consolidation
  • [05] Greek-Bulgarian econ relations
  • [06] Athens Newspaper Headlines

  • [01] PM calls for stepped up deficit-reduction effort

    ÁÍÁ-ÌPÁ/Prime Minister George Papandreou told his Cabinet members on Thursday that the government aims to reduce its deficit by 6 percentage points of the GDP in 2010, corresponding to 14 billion euros, while he underlined that the recent definitive assessment of the 2009 deficits "has changed the starting point ... in 2009 the deficit was 36.2 billion euros and not 32 billion as we thought. Therefore, the deficit was 15.4 pct of the GDP and not 13.6 pct."

    "The initial targets of our programme will be maintained in the 2011 state budget as we have pledged. Namely, to reduce the deficit to 17 billion euros by the end of 2011," he said, adding that "essentially, the targets originally set have been met even though the starting points were changed."

    "The difficult struggle we have launched has proved to be much harder than anticipated," he said, stressing that "efforts this year should be more intense than predicted," considering that the "deficit for 2010 is reduced by 14 billion euros to 22 billions and not to 18 billions as planned." ANA-MpA

    Papandreou stated that the government has pledged that the civil servants will see no more cuts in their salaries or pensions, while there will be no additional tax increases, adding that "an effort will be made for a milder adjustment because the market is faced with huge problems."

    More details on the subscriber's page of APE-MPE | Subscription request form

    [02] ND leader to meet with 'troika'

    ANA-MPA/Main opposition New Democracy (ND) President Antonis Samaras will meet on Friday with "troika" inspectors at the party's headquarters in Athens.

    In the meeting, scheduled to take place at 1:30 pm on Friday, Samaras will repeat that "the memorandum policy suffocates the Greek economy when what's necessary is to give a boost to growth".

    He will make it clear that ND is against a layoff policy in the public sector, underlining that it will not solve the problem because it will only increase unemployment and strengthen the vicious circle of recession. However, he will support the implementation of structural reforms in the public and wider public sector to cut costs and increase effectiveness. Also, Samaras will flatly reject the likelihood of controlled bankruptcy. ANA-MPa

    Before meeting with the "troika' representatives, he will chair a meeting of the party's executive secretariat to discuss the outcome of the recently held local government elections and the state budget tabled in parliament on Thursday.

    More details on the subscriber's page of APE-MPE | Subscription request form

    [03] Strikes by municipal workers on Friday

    ANA-MPA/The local authority workers' union has called a 24-hour nationwide strike for Friday, Nov. 19.

    On Nov. 20 and 21, the municipal workers' union has called for a 48-hour abstention or strike, depending on individual sectors.

    Union demands include the signing of a collective work contract, a new salary scale, protection of contract workers' rights, protection of auxiliary pension rights and healthcare.

    More details on the subscriber's page of APE-MPE | Subscription request form

    [04] No slowdown in fiscal consolidation

    ANA-MPA/In a press conference about the draft budget for 2011 on Thursday, Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou stressed that it was a "difficult" budget that would continue fiscal consolidation measures and whose aim was to allow Greece to borrow on international markets from 2011. The sooner confidence was restored and markets opened, the sooner growth would be restored, he added.

    The minister also noted that this was the first budget that sought to apply fiscal management to the whole of general government spending. ANA-MPA

    Papaconstantinou emphasised that the basic starting point for the new budget was the major revision of Greece's 2010 deficit and debt by Eurostat. The minister pointed out that the ministry's figures for the deficit had leaped from 10 billion euros in 2003 to 36.2 billlion euros in 2009, while the public debt had shot up from 168 billion euros in 2003 to 298 billion euros in 2009.

    According to the minister, this development concerning the debt was the reason why he had not asked the reduction of the deficit to be spread over more than one year but chose to achieve the whole of the fiscal consolidation within 2011.

    Papaconstantinou noted that the budget provided for cost-cutting and revenue-raising measures amounting to 14.3 billion euro and that these would lead to a net reduction of the deficit by five billion euro. At the same time, the economy was forecast to shrink by 4.2 percent in 2010 and 3 percent in 2011.

    More details on the subscriber's page of APE-MPE | Subscription request form

    [05] Greek-Bulgarian econ relations

    Sofia (ANA-MPA/B. Borisov) -- The large margins for further growth of the already strong Greek-Bulgarian relations in the economic sector were stressed by Greek President of the Republic Karolos Papoulias in Sofia on Thursday, in a greeting to the inauguration of the Greece-Bulgaria Business Forum taking place in the Bulgarian capital with the participation of more than 200 large and small and medium size (SME) enterprises from both countries.

    "Despite the difficult international economic conjuncture, the level of Greek-Bulgarian relations is steadily expanding in a wide range of sectors, such as, indicatively, commerce, the economy, tourism, investments, energy and others," said Papoulias, who arrived in Sofia on Wednesday on a two-day state visit.

    Papoulias noted that the bulk of bilateral trade was constantly increasing, and Bulgaria is now one of Greece's most significant partners, holding 4th place among buyers of Greek products, while Greece is Bulgaria's second biggest customer, absorbing 9.4 percent of Bulgaria's overall exports.ANA-MPA

    "Greece's significant contribution to Bulgaria's economic growth is also mirrored by the presence of Greek enterprises in Bulgaria, with the total Greek capital invested in the country exceeding 2.8 billion euros," Papoulias noted.

    More details on the subscriber's page of APE-MPE | Subscription request form

    [06] Athens Newspaper Headlines

    The Friday edition of Athens' dailies at a glance

    The 2011 State Budget and the 14.3 billion euros fiscal adjustment, and speculation of lay-offs in Public Utilities and Organisations (DEKO), dominated the headlines on Friday in Athens' dailies

    ADESMEFTOS TYPOS: "Prime Minister George Papandreou preannounced new sacrifices".

    AVGHI: "State Budget of 'Controlled bankruptcy'."

    AVRIANI: "Half the state hospitals will shut down".

    ELEFTHEROTYPIA: "High cost of living and destitution".

    ELETHEROS TYPOS: "Who will pay for the damage?".

    ESTIA: "State Budget up in the air".

    ETHNOS: "Regulation/breather on the acquisition of first home".

    IMERISSIA: "Huge cutbacks everywhere".

    KATHIMERINI: "Possibility of layoffs in DEKO remains open".

    LOGOS: "Troika's Budget".

    NAFTEMPORIKI: "Harsh measures and 6.3 billion euros in new taxes".

    NIKI: "768,000 civil servants' daily life changes".

    RIZOSPASTIS: "State Budget wildly looting the people".

    TA NEA: "Where the government will find 14.3 billion euros".

    TO VIMA: "Budget of necessity and ....whoever can bear it".

    VRADYNI: "Government devastates market and employees".

    More details on the subscriber's page of APE-MPE | Subscription request form


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