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Athens News Agency: News in English, 07-12-06Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>CONTENTS
[01] Karamanlis briefed on int'l, European economic developments by FinMinPrime Minister Costas Karamanlis was briefed on Thursday by Economy and Finance Minister George Alogoskoufis on international and European economic developments, as well as issues affecting the Eurogroup and ECOFIN council.Alogoskoufis referred to repercussions from international developments, particularly high oil prices, on the inflation front in Greece, "noting that what we need to do is to make sure that this imported inflation isn't transformed into a domestic problem". Additionally, the FinMin announced that draft laws to create an anti-poverty fund and tax reform will be tabled in Parliament before the vote for the 2008 budget. [02] FinMin: State retains control of OTEThe government reiterated on Thursday, this time by FinMin George Alogoskoufis from Parliament's podium no less, that it has no intention of losing control of the state-run telecoms and telephony utility (OTE) through stock purchases on the market."I do not want to say anything more today, as there is a plan and this has been made known to all interested parties, along with the government's standing interest in OTE," Alogoskoufis said in Parliament in response to a tabled question by Radical Left Coalition (SYRIZA) deputy Panayiotis Lafazanis. The opposition MP's question refers to the stake now held in the utility by the ambitious Marfin Investment Group, whose bold purchases and investments in the Greek market of late have raised eyebrows in the entire region. Lafazanis, in fact, put Marfin's stake in OTE at 17 percent. The Greek FinMin added that the government considers listed OTE, one of the most heavily traded stocks on the Athens Stock Exchange, as a "strategic" enterprise in the development of the telecommunications sector in Greece. He also stressed that no further privatisation of OTE will take place without a specific decision by the relevant inter-ministerial committee on privatisations. "The government is also not discussing any issue of co-management with any institutional investor or any other investment company," he said. On his part, the leftist party's MP claimed that the state has already lost control of OTE. Caption: ANA-MPA file photo of Economy and Finance Minister George Alogoskoufis. Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |