Athens News Agency: News in English, 01-10-24

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

CONTENTS

[01] World tourism trade fair in Thessaloniki next month

[02] Little room for loan rates to fall further, analysts say

[03] Head of Athens Olympics Committee briefs main sponsors

[04] Foreign Exchange Rates - Thursday

[05] New finance minister to keep growth, stability policies

[06] Athens, Budapest focus on EU expansion, Cyprus' prospects

[07] Weather Forecast: Rainy on Thursday

[08] Greek stocks fall on profit taking

[01] World tourism trade fair in Thessaloniki next month

An annual world tourism trade fair will be held in Thessaloniki on November 1-4 with over 500 Greek or Greek-affiliated exhibitors and 146 from 29 other countries, the organisers told a news conference in the northern port city on Wednesday.

Philoxenia is arranged by Helexpo, the state trade fair organiser, working with the Greek National Tourism Organisation.

Among events to be held as part of the fair are a two-day conference on eco-tourism organised by the development ministry, and seminars on tourism arranged by a domestic trade group of travel operators.

[02] Little room for loan rates to fall further, analysts say

Domestic consumer, mortgage and credit card rates have little leeway to fall further even if the European Central Bank again lowers its intervention rate, bankers said on Wednesday.

Credit card rates in Greece are already low in relation to those offered by major banks in Europe and the US, despite complaints by domestic consumers, the bankers said.

They added that they were unwilling to launch a new wave of rate cuts, especially in mortgages, as levels were low in comparison to the euro zone.

[03] Head of Athens Olympics Committee briefs main sponsors

The president of the Athens 2004 Olympics organising committee, Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki, on Wednesday held a briefing for the corporate heads of the event's main national sponsors.

The meeting was the first of a series to be held every two months in which the sponsors will be informed of progress in preparations for the games, to help them make better use of the opportunities stemming from sponsorship.

Also discussed at the meeting was the creation of a 2004 Olympics sponsors' club to strengthen ties between the committee and all sponsors.

The organising committee has so far raised 72.7 billion drachmas from seven out of a total of 40 sponsorships, representing 107 percent of the original target. The remaining sponsorships have yet to be tendered.

[04] Foreign Exchange Rates - Thursday

Indicative tourist buying rates

U.S. dollar 379.074

German mark 172.829

French franc 051.531

Pound sterling 540.229

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 045.456

Swedish kroner 035.603

Finnish mark 056.852

Spanish peseta 002.032

Portuguese escudo 001.686

Japanese yen (100) 308.762

Swiss franc 228.430

Norwegian kroner 042.545

Cyprus pound 588.606

Canadian dollar 240.880

Australian dollar 192.601

[05] New finance minister to keep growth, stability policies

Nikos Christodoulakis, the newly appointed national economy and finance minister, said on Wednesday that he would retain existing policies of stability and growth.

"I can assure you that economic policy will move in the same direction in order to achieve growth, prosperity, a rise in unemployment and social equity," Christodoulakis told a news conference at his first day in the ministry.

In a sweeping cabinet reshuffle on Tuesday, his predecessor Yiannos Papantoniou was awarded the defence portfolio, with Christodoulakis leaving his post as development minister to be replaced by Akis Tsohatzopoulos, who formerly held the defence portfolio.

Christodoulakis said he would work to boost competitiveness, improve the trade balance, attain real convergence with the European Union, and advance structural changes that would make the economy more flexible in a troubled global environment.

The minister said he also planned to improve the operation of financial markets through the creation of fair competition control mechanisms, which, in turn, would spur more investment.

[06] Athens, Budapest focus on EU expansion, Cyprus' prospects

BUDAPEST (ANA) -- Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou arrived here on Wednesday for a meeting with his Hungarian counterpart Janos Martonyi, with talks focusing on Hungary's European Union accession prospects.

Papandreou reiterated Athens' support for Budapest's EU entry, while Martonyi confirmed Hungary's position over Cyprus' prospects for accession into the 15-nation bloc even without a prior solution to its political problem.

In linking the EU's expected expansion with the terrorist attacks last month, Martonyi said the "tragedy of Sept. 11" must lead to an acceleration of the Union's expansion.

Regarding Cyprus' candidacy, the Hungarian minister said the "issue has been solved at the Helsinki summit ... It is obvious that both sides on Cyprus must make every effort for an agreement. If this isn't achieved then the Helsinki text provides a solution: An option exists for the portion of the island republic to conduct negotiations, to finalise an accession agreement on behalf of the entire island," he said.

[07] Weather Forecast: Rainy on Thursday

Showers are forecast on the mainland and in the Ionian on Thursday, turning to heavy rain and storms in the west. Snow is expected on high ground in the centre and north. Cloudy in the rest of the country. Winds variable, moderate to very strong, turning gale force in the Aegean. In the north, temperatures will range from 9C to 17C; on the rest of the mainland from 13C to 21C; and in the islands from 16C to 24C. Light cloud in Athens turning to showers, with temperatures between 15C and 20C. Same in Thessaloniki, with temperatures from 11C to 16C.

[08] Greek stocks fall on profit taking

Equity prices succumbed to profit taking to end moderately lower on the Athens Stock Exchange on Wednesday, with investors sidelined awaiting the new government's policies on the economy.

The general index ended 0.58 percent lower to 2,391.34 points, with turnover a disappointing 28.8 billion drachmas, or 84.5 million euros.

The Investment and Textiles sectors suffered the heaviest percentage losses (1.99 percent and 1.55 percent respectively), while the Metals and Retail sectors scored the biggest percentage gains (0.72 percent and 0.05 percent respectively).

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks ended 0.71 percent lower, the FTSE/ASE MID 40 index eased 0.50 percent and the FTSE/ASE SmallCap 80 index fell 0.64 percent.

Broadly, advancing issues outnumbered declining ones by 244 to 81 with another 35 issues unchanged.

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