Athens News Agency: News in English, 01-09-21

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

CONTENTS

[01] UNICEF ready to send humanitarian aid to Afghanistan

[02] State telecom may start talks in FYROM Tues on mobile permit

[03] "Medea fantasies" acclaimed in France

[04] National Bank joins rate cuts (RECASTS, adding loans, new banks)

[05] Athens Bourse Close: Stocks drop in higher turnover

[06] Foreign Exchange Rates - Monday

[07] National Bank of Greece joins wave of rate cuts

[08] Filipino woman drops off three-year-old in the "hands" of Sri Lankan

[09] Weather Forecast: Sunny on Saturday

[01] UNICEF ready to send humanitarian aid to Afghanistan

UNICEF is ready to send urgent humanitarian aid to Afghanistan. The aid, to be sent with six scheduled flights, includes adequate medical supplies for 100,000 people over a period of three months.

The first flight will leave Copenhagen, Denmark, for Turkmenistan, one of four countries in which UNICEF is creating supplies, in the event a large number of Afghans seek refuge.

The organisation's executive director Carrol Belamy said "the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan has been developing for some time" and revealed that the past years of drought, more than 20 years of war and the continuing displacement of one million inhabitants, combined with the oncoming winter, will make UNICEF's effort to keep the children of Afghanistan alive in coming months very difficult.

[02] State telecom may start talks in FYROM Tues on mobile permit

The government of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) is expected to begin negotiations on Tuesday with Hellenic Telecommunications Organisation (OTE) on the award of a mobile phone permit, the country's second.

OTE offered 25 million US dollars against 80 million dollars by a FYROM-based company, which was rejected on grounds of lack of capital.

The Greek firm's managing director, George Skarpelis, said that OTE would have offered 60-70 percent more in a healthier global economy.

In Romania, OTE owns 35 percent of Romtelecom, a stake it would like to increase. The firm would also like to enter the country's mobile phone market through a subsidiary, Cosmorom. OTE is planning to invest 250-300 million US dollars in Romania.

In addition, OTE has a mobile phone subsidiary in Bulgaria that launched operations on Monday. Since then, it has gained about 1,000 customers a day. The network covers 28 percent of the country.

[03] "Medea fantasies" acclaimed in France

"Medea's fantasies" is the title of a play which was directed and acted by Anastasia Politi in France, receiving acclaim by both critics and public.

A modern Medea, quite different from the myth of Euripides' tragedy, abolishes the picture of the child killer and projects the wisdom and knowledge of women's standing.

Politi has been living and working in France for the past ten years.

[04] National Bank joins rate cuts (RECASTS, adding loans, new banks)

National Bank of Greece, a blue chip on the Athens bourse, announced on Friday that it would cut its deposit rates, joining other key banks in the move.

Analysts said that interest on savings deposit accounts would come to about minus 3.0 percent on smaller amounts, taking into account a 15 percent tax on interest and an inflation rate of roughly 3.5 percent.

The returns are about the same in most other credit institutions.

National, the country's largest commercial bank with an estimated two million deposit accounts, also lowered its lending rates, including the floating consumer credit rate, which dropped half a point to 9.50 percent.

In addition, EFG Eurobank Ergasias and Piraeus Bank announced rate declines on Friday following National, Alpha Bank, Commercial Bank of Greece, Attica Bank and HSBC.

The rate cuts were triggered by a decline in the European Central Bank's intervention rate by half a percentage point.

[05] Athens Bourse Close: Stocks drop in higher turnover

The Athens bourse finished down on Friday but above the day's lows after last-minute buying by institutional investors that partially reversed a sharp decline. Sentiment also improved on a rebound in ailing markets abroad.

The general share index shed 1.31 percent to end at 2,105.56 points. Turnover was 236.0 million euros. Losses during the session had reached a maximum of 6.3 percent.

The FTSE/ASE-20 index for blue chip and heavily traded stocks ended 1.07 percent lower; the FTSE/ASE-40 for medium capitalisation paper 3.37 percent down; and the FTSE/ASE-80 for small cap equities lost 2.92 percent.

Declines led advances at 299 to 46 with 17 issues remaining unchanged.

Bucking the trend was the telecoms sector, which gained 1.14 percent. The heaviest loser was the holding companies' sector at 7.80 percent.

[06] Foreign Exchange Rates - Monday

Indicative tourist buying rates until Monday

U.S. dollar 367.425

German mark 172.829

French franc 051.531

Pound sterling 536.462

Irish punt 429.202

Belgian franc 008.379

Luxembourg franc 008.379

Dutch guilder 153.389

Italian lira (100) 017.457

Austrian schilling 024.565

Danish kroner 45.436

Swedish kroner 33.927

Finnish mark 056.852

Spanish peseta 002.032

Portuguese escudo 001.686

Japanese yen (100) 315.392

Swiss franc 233.694

Norwegian kroner 042.631

Cyprus pound 589.522

Canadian dollar 234.983

Australian dollar 177.909

[07] National Bank of Greece joins wave of rate cuts

National Bank of Greece, a blue chip on the Athens bourse, announced on Friday that it would cut its deposit rates, joining other key banks in the move.

Analysts said that interest on savings deposit accounts would come to about minus 3.0 percent on smaller amounts, taking into account a 15 percent tax on interest and an inflation rate of roughly 3.5 percent. The returns are about the same in other credit institutions.

National is the country's largest commercial bank, with an estimated two million deposit accounts.

Alpha Bank, Commercial Bank of Greece, Attica Bank and HSBC have already announced reductions in their savings deposit rates. Expected to follow suit is Piraeus Bank.

[08] Filipino woman drops off three-year-old in the "hands" of Sri Lankan man

A 32-year-old Sri Lankan national on Thursday reported to police that a Filipino woman he met in the past went to his residence and left in front of the door a three-year-old girl, then got into a taxi and took off.

Puvudini Esmarogedon reported to police that he did not know the name of the woman, police said.

An Athens prosecutor order the child be taken to a hospital for a general medical check up and police is investigating the case.

[09] Weather Forecast: Sunny on Saturday

The weather will be sunny throughout the country on Saturday, with some scattered cloud in the centre and north. Winds northerly, light to moderate. In the north, temperatures will range from 16C to 31C; on the rest of the mainland from 18C to 33C; and in the islands from 19C to 30C. Mostly sunny in Athens, with temperatures between 20C and 32C. Same in Thessaloniki with temperatures from 18C to 30C.

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