Athens News Agency: News in English, 03-06-04

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

CONTENTS

[01] Weather Forecast: Mostly sunny on Wednesday

[02] Foreign Exchange Rates - Wednesday

[03] EU finance ministers forge deal on bank deposits tax

[01] Weather Forecast: Mostly sunny on Wednesday

Most parts of the country will be sunny, with scattered showers and storms mainly from late afternoon on the mainland. Winds variable, light to moderate. On the mainland, temperatures will range from 14C to 32C; and in the islands from 15C to 29C. Temperatures in Athens between 17C and 32C; and in Thessaloniki from 16C to 29C.

[02] Foreign Exchange Rates - Wednesday

Reference buying rates per euro released by the European Central Bank

U.S. dollar 1.181

Pound sterling 0.723

Danish kroner 7.484

Swedish kroner 9.198

Japanese yen 140.5

Swiss franc 1.548

Norwegian kroner 8.028

Cyprus pound 0.591

Canadian dollar 1.616

Australian dollar 1.794

[03] EU finance ministers forge deal on bank deposits tax

LUXEMBOURG (ANA/M.Spinthourakis) - European Union finance ministers on Tuesday reached a compromise formula on taxing deposits held by citizens of the bloc in other member countries.

Greek Finance Minister Nikos Christodoulakis told reporters that the 15-year dispute had ended following a last minute agreement with Italy, which had so far blocked a deal on the package.

Greece, which chaired the meeting as the EU's rotating president, proposed offering Italian dairy producers a 14-year timespan to pay off fines totalling 650 million euros in interest-free installments in return for its consent to the bank deposits package.

Italy, which accepted the offer, had originally sought a reduction in the fines imposed on farmers for exceeding milk quotas in return for lifting its veto on the deposits pact.

Under the bank deposits tax agreement finally passed, 12 EU members out of the current 15 have agreed to an information exchange on deposits held in their states by EU nationals from other countries of the bloc. The pact takes effect on January 1, 2005.

Remaining outside the data exchange are Luxembourg, Belgium and Austria, which are to tax the deposits at source instead of releasing information, as they wish to retain banking confidentiality.

The tax in the three countries will be 15 percent of interest between 2005 and 2008; 20 percent until 2011; and 35 percent beyond that year. Seventy five percent of the tax collected will be given to the country of origin of the EU nationals holding the accounts.

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