Athens News Agency: News in English, 01-09-28

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

CONTENTS

[01] Athens bourse to retain later trading hours next week

[02] Foreign Exchange Rates - Monday

[03] Athens Bourse Close: Stocks rise, boosted by markets abroad

[04] Two-step budget for 2002 to parliament on Monday

[05] Weather Forecast: Sunshine on Saturday

[06] IOC warns Athens over delays in Olympic projects

[07] PM inaugurates first stage of Athens 'archaeological park'

[01] Athens bourse to retain later trading hours next week

Athens bourse authorities announced on Friday that the market would retain its later trading times of 1200-1800 next week.

The Athens Derivatives Exchange will operate from 1130 to 1815, the bourse said in a statement.

[02] Foreign Exchange Rates - Monday

Indicative tourist buying rates until Monday

U.S. dollar 370.179

German mark 172.829

French franc 051.531

Pound sterling 543.443

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 45.453

Swedish kroner 34.732

Finnish mark 056.852

Spanish peseta 002.032

Portuguese escudo 001.686

Japanese yen (100) 310.054

Swiss franc 228.998

Norwegian kroner 041.679

Cyprus pound 588.535

Canadian dollar 234.450

Australian dollar 183.504

[03] Athens Bourse Close: Stocks rise, boosted by markets abroad

The Athens bourse finished higher on Friday in brisk trade, fuelled by healthier sentiment in global markets.

The general share index gained 2.47 percent to end at 2,226.05 points. Turnover was 168.3 million euros.

Bulls drove the market throughout the session, with a last-minute round of buying taking the general index even higher.

The FTSE/ASE-20 index for blue chip and heavily traded stocks ended 2.38 percent up; the FTSE/ASE-40 for medium capitalisation paper 3.37 percent higher; and the FTSE/ASE-80 for small cap equities 3.82 percent up.

Advances led declines at 341 to 13 with 9 issues remaining unchanged.

[04] Two-step budget for 2002 to parliament on Monday

The government on Monday will send to parliament the budget for 2002, which contains a contingency plan if the economy slumps on global repercussions from terrorism attacks in the US earlier this month.

A parliamentary committee will take the budget for study after a cabinet meeting earlier in the day gives final approval to the two-step calculation.

The final version of the budget to emerge from committee stage in November will be debated in the house before a vote, unless fresh changes are warranted by a deterioration in the global and Greek economies.

The first scenario contains revenue and spending calculations based on a growth rate of 4.6 percent in 2002, an estimate made before the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington on September 11.

The secondis based on a lower growth rate that would emerge from a deeper recession in the global economy.

Under the contingency plan, public sector spending would be lowered by a maximum of 80 billion drachmas to offset a decline in tax revenue, in turn stemming from a lower rate of growth, estimated at about 4.0 percent annually after 2002.

The second scenario also aims to keep Greece within targets set in its 2002 economic stability plan for the European Union.

In both cases, the general government budget surplus would be 1.3 percent of gross domestic product, up from 0.5 percent in 2001.

[05] Weather Forecast: Sunshine on Saturday

The weather will be sunny on Saturday with some scattered cloud in the east. Winds northerly, light to strong, turning very strong in the southeastern Aegean. On the northern mainland, temperatures will range from 10C to 23C; on the rest of the mainland and the Ionian from 14C to 27C; and in the Aegean islands from 17C to 26C. Sunshine in Athens, with temperatures between 17C and 27C. Mostly sunny in Thessaloniki, with temperatures from 12C to 23C.

[06] IOC warns Athens over delays in Olympic projects

The IOC didnt minced its words on Friday in warning that several construction projects for the upcoming Athens 2004 Olympics are most definitely behind schedule.

In his first visit to the Greek capital as the head of an all-important IOC coordinating commission supervising Athens organisers (ATHOC) preparations, Denis Oswald called for accelerated work on the under-construction sites and for better cooperation by all parties involved -- namely, ATHOC, various ministries and other state agencies.

Conversely, he told reporters that the Lausanne-based International Olympic Committee (IOC) was pleased by ATHOCs results in the marketing and sponsorship sectors, while reiterating IOC chief Jacques Rogges statement in Athens this week that ?no one can guarantee security at the Olympics 100 percent.?

Oswald succeeded Rogge as the chairman of the coordinating committee after the latter was elected as the new IOC chief last July.

[07] PM inaugurates first stage of Athens 'archaeological park'

Prime Minister Costas Simitis on Friday inaugurated the newly pedestrianised Dionysiou Areopagitou street beneath the Acropolis - the first phase of a project to unify archaeological sites in central Athens.

"Through these projects, we can relive the life of the city, connected to its history" the prime minister stressed during the ceremony attended by Environment Minister Costas Laliotis, Culture Minister Evangelos Venizelos and other officials.

Pedestrianising Dionysiou Aeropagitou street was a first step towards realising a project for unifying Athens' archaeological sites first envisioned by late culture minister Melina Mercouri.

When it's completed, walkways will link the Athens Acropolis, Thisseion, the yet-to-be-built Acropolis Museum at Makriyanni and Hadrian's Arch into a single 'archaeological park', allowing visitors to walk from one to the other without traversing the traffic-laden streets of modern Athens.

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