Athens News Agency: News in English, 01-08-30

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

CONTENTS

[01] Economy is thriving, Papantoniou says after meeting PM

[02] Athens Stock Exchange opening: equities slipping

[01] Economy is thriving, Papantoniou says after meeting PM

The Greek economy is thriving and the eurozone 'wager' has been won, National Economy Minister Yiannos Papantoniou said on Thursday, as he emerged from a meeting with Prime Minister Costas Simitis.

The meeting focused on the Greek economy's performance, which Papantoniou said was good. Specifically, he said the rate of growth in Greece for 2002 was expected to be twice the EU average, while public debt was expected to shrink and inflation to stay low.

With respect to a package of social and welfare measures planned by the government, Papantoniou said final decisions on this would be made when the cabinet met next Tuesday.

[02] Athens Stock Exchange opening: equities slipping

Equities were down at the opening of trade Thursday on the Athens Stock Exchange, with buyers fighting shy of stocks for a second day. At 10:15 a.m., the general index was down 0.72 percent at 2,755.83 points and turnover was 6.1 million euro.

Individual sector indices were mostly moving down, with the biggest losses for the foods and beverages index, down 1.28 percent. Of just two indices moving up, the highest gains were in the parallel market, up 0.11 percent.

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavily traded stocks was down 0.65 percent, the FTSE/ASE MID 40 index was down 0.46 percent, and the FTSE/ASE SMALLCAP index was down 0.24 percent.

Of the stocks moved, 60 were up, 140 were down and 47 were unchanged.

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