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Athens News Agency: News in English, 05-08-25
CONTENTS
[01] Boosting economic growth, competitiveness and employment
opportunities key objectives, labour minister says
[01] Boosting economic growth, competitiveness and employment
opportunities key objectives, labour minister says
Minister of Labour and Social Protection Panos Panayiotopoulos
emphasised that labour reforms aimed at boosting economic growth,
competitiveness and employment opportunities will continue, in comments
he made after meeting with Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis on Thursday
morning.
He said that unemployment was down roughly 1 percentage point compared
with 2004, noting that New Democracy came into office inheriting an
unemployment rate of 11.3% from the then PASOK government.
Panayiotopoulos stressed that reforms need to continue in order to
further reduce the unemployment rate, which at slighly above 10%, is
still too high.
He accused main opposition PASOK of achieving the impossible: managing
to allow unemployment to reach 11.3% when the country had an average
economic growth rate well above the EU average.
Asked to comment on social security reform, the minister reiterated the
government's position regarding its insistence on an ongoing dialogue
between relevant agencies and authorities and political parties.
The objective regarding social security reform is to protect the system
and keep it in tact for future generations, he said.
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