Athens News Agency: News in English, 03-09-15

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

CONTENTS

[01] President Stephanopoulos inaugurates 32nd book festival in Athens

[02] Free public transport on Tuesday as part of 'European Mobility Week'

[03] Alpha Bank, EFG Eurobank plan to create new credit card network

[04] Weather Forecast: Cloud, rain on Tuesday

[05] Foreign Exchange Rates - Tuesday

[06] Greek stocks end sharply lower on Monday

[01] President Stephanopoulos inaugurates 32nd book festival in Athens

President Kostis Stephanopoulos inaugurated the 32nd book festival in Athens on Monday night.

''Our children must become accustomed to reading and the beauty of the language instead of their parents allowing them to spend hours in front of television,'' President Stephanopoulos said during the inauguration ceremony.

Referring to the festival's poster, a picture of destruction, he said ''it does not have a pessimistic message but shows the ill-treatment of the book to enable one to admire its good use'' and expressed optimism that year after year more titles will be published and readers will increase in number.

[02] Free public transport on Tuesday as part of 'European Mobility Week'

The public will enjoy free public transport on Tuesday as part of ''European Mobility Week'' which begins on the same day.

On the occasion, the transport and communications ministry and the Athens Urban Transport Organisation will organise ''To the City with Public Transport'' day on Tuesday.

European Mobility Week is dedicated this year to the use of environmentally friendly means of transport, with particular emphasis being placed on the bicycle and facilitating transport for people with special needs.

Athens currently has the biggest fleet of environmentally friendly buses in Europe since 295 buses are powered by natural gas, while this figure will increase considerably over a short period of time.

Transport and Communications Minister Christos Verelis said in a statement that more and more citizens are relying on public transport for their travel.

[03] Alpha Bank, EFG Eurobank plan to create new credit card network

Alpha Bank SA and EFG Eurobank Ergasias SA, both quoted on the Athens bourse, said on Monday that they had signed a preliminary agreement on creating a single electronic network for credit card users.

The new nationwide network would serve Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Euroline, the two banks said in a statement.

[04] Weather Forecast: Cloud, rain on Tuesday

All parts of the country will see scattered cloud and rain, especially in the west and south. Winds variable, moderate to strong. In the north, temperatures will range from 11C to 24C; on the rest of the mainland and in the Ionian from 15C to 27C; and in the Aegean islands from 20C to 28C. Temperatures in Athens between 18C and 27C; and in Thessaloniki from 15C to 25C.

[05] Foreign Exchange Rates - Tuesday

Reference buying rates per euro released by the European Central Bank

U.S. dollar 1.137

Pound sterling 0.709

Danish kroner 7.486

Swedish kroner 9.215

Japanese yen 133.6

Swiss franc 1.569

Norwegian kroner 8.343

Cyprus pound 0.588

Canadian dollar 1.555

Australian dollar 1.714

[06] Greek stocks end sharply lower on Monday

Greek stocks ended Monday's session sharply lower in the Athens Stock Exchanger as lack of fresh buying left share prices vulnerable to selling pressures.

The general index ended 1.69 percent lower at 2,047.66 points, slightly off its session lows, with turnover a low 95.1 million euros.

The Textile (5.0 percent), Publication (4.71 percent), Insurance (4.46 percent) and Holding (4.25 percent) sectors suffered the heaviest percentage losses of the day, with all other sector indices ending more than 1.0 percent lower in the day.

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks fell 1.68 percent, the FTSE/ASE MID 40 index dropped 2.71 percent and the FTSE/ASE SmallCap 80 index plunged 3.76 percent.

Broadly, decliners led advancers by 317 to 21 with another 20 issues unchanged.

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