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Athens News Agency: News in English, 10-04-01Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>CONTENTS
[01] PM visits Manpower Employment OrganisationPrime Minister George Papandreou, during a visit on Wednesday to the state's Manpower Employment Organisation (OAED), said that in a period of economic crisis it is of major importance to stand at the citizen's side, adding that his government is doing so by subsidising labour and the social security contributions, and also with new programmes to boost women's entrepreneurship especially in new sectors such as green growth, thus also supporting social cohesion.Labour and Social security Minister Andreas Loverdos, who accompanied Papandreou on his visit to the OAED branch in the working class district of Peristeri, said that the government is subsidising 120,000 job positions which will open up next week. [02] ND: Gov't must boost employmentMain opposition New Democracy spokesman Panos Panagiotopoulos on Wednesday said that a visit by Prime Minister George Papandreou to Greece's unemployment agency OAED was simply a communications ploy so that he could be seen caring about jobs on television, while the measures he announced for battling unemployment would bring no practical result."After five and a half months of having done nothing to promote employment, to protect jobs and to fight unemployment, he is today and purely for television consumption implementing the new communications plan of visiting OAED," the spokesman told reporters. "If the government wants to carry out effective measures to promote employment and strike at unemployment there is the proposal by [ND Leader Antonis Samaras] to give developmental relief to small and middle-sized businesses and thus protect jobs and boost employment," he stressed. [03] Debate on tax bill extendedDebate on the draft tax bill continued before the appropriate Parliamentary committee on Wednesday, with Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou agreeing to incorporate several changes proposed by MPs, as well as representatives of organisations, and promising to present the changes in their final form to the committee on the Thursday after Easter.The government has decided not to push the bill through as urgent - which would have meant holding a vote in the committee on the same day so that the draft bill would go before the Parliament plenum the week after Easter. The committee stage is now set to continue on April 8 and debate on the draft bill by the full Parliament will begin on April 13 and be completed in five sessions, with a final vote on April 15. Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |