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Athens News Agency: News in English, 07-07-04Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>CONTENTS
[01] Pope receives Greek FM BakoyannisGreek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis was received at the Vatican on Wednesday by Pope Benedict XVI, as a meeting with the statelet's foreign minister is also planned during the former's lighting visit to the Vatican.ANA-MPA photo / A. DOUKAS [02] Household debt up 24.7% in April, yr/yrCredit expansion maintained high growth rates in the first four months of 2007, with net new borrowing by the private and public sectors totaling 3.2 billion euros, up 11.2 percent compared with the same period last year, the Bank of Greece announced on Wednesday.The central bank, in its monthly report, said this development mainly reflected an 8.4-billion euros net borrowing by businesses and households (up 19.2 pct from 2006), while net borrowing by the public sector was down 13.9 percent, or 5.1 billion euros. Households' debt in mortgage and consumer loans totaled 91.4 billion euros in April 2007, or 44 pct of the country's Gross Domestic Product, up 24.7 pct from the same period last year. Mortgage and consumer loans grew slightly faster in April, after a 24.5-percent growth rate in March. Mortgage loans grew at 25.5 pct in April, unchanged from March, with outstanding debt at 61.089 billion euros, while consumer credit grew by 22.6 pct in April, from 22 pct in March, with debt owed to banks totaling 28.040 billion euros, of which 8.5 billion euros were credit card debt. Businesses' debt, including securitized loans (2.694 billion euros in April from 2.745 billion euros in March) totaled 96.3 billion euros, for a growth rate of 14.4 pct, down from 15.9 pct in March. Saving deposits grew steadily as well, totaling 177.261 billion euros at the end of April, up 11.7 pct from the same month in 2006. Caption: File photo showing the outside of the Bank of Greece building in downtown Athens. ANA-MPA / P. SAITAS. Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |