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Athens News Agency: News in English, 10-04-16Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>CONTENTS
[01] PM chairs cabinet meeting on economyANA-MPA/Prime Minister George Papandreou, speaking during Thursday's informal cabinet meeting, said that Greece is interested in there being a clear framework in which the eurozone countries will move when the support mechanism is going to be activated.The prime minister said that this is so because the markets test every detail, adding that ever time that there is a grey zone the spreads go up. It is on the basis of this government position that Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou had earlier in the day addressed a letter to EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn, European Central Bank (ECB) President Jean-Claude Trichet and IMF Director-General Dominique Strauss-Kahn. Papandreou said that the spreads issue "remains in the discussion although the Greek government should gradually turn its attention of all to other issues that are also preoccupying the country." [02] ND reiterates opposition to draft tax billANA-MPa/Main opposition New Democracy's spokesman Panos Panagiotopoulos repeated his party's opposition to the government's draft tax bill on Thursday, saying that it will "plunge the daily life of Greek men and women into recession and decline".He urged the prime minister to take immediate measures against unemployment, saying that the deepest danger from a prolonged deep recession would be "an explosion of economic indices to dizzy heights". ND leader Antonis Samaras had referred to these issues during his meeting on Wednesday with Prime Minister George Papandreou, the spokesman added. [03] Parliament Plenum ratifies taxation billThe taxation bill was ratified at the Parliamentary Plenum on Thursday in its articles and in its entirety.The ruling PASOK party voted in favour of the bill, the main opposition New Democracy (ND) voted in favour of a third of the articles, while certain clauses were voted by the Popular Orthodox Rally (LAOS) and Radical Left Coalition (SYRIZA) parties. The Communist Party of Greece (KKE) voted against all the articles, although it acknowledged that they include certain individual beneficial clauses that were mixed, however, with others that it disagrees with. [04] Police finds on terrorist groupA car whose luggage compartment contained weapons, hard electronic computer discs, forged identity cards and many thousands of euros in cash, as well as two apartments that were possibly safehouses of the terrorist organisation "Revolutionary Struggle" are the new findings of the Greek police in investigations being carried out on the specific case.Police chief Eleftherios Economou made relevant announcements on the findings on Thursday evening, beginning his briefing by referring to the vehicle found and which belongs to one of the defendants. [05] Âill on pension systemÁÍÁ-ÌPa/Labour and Social Insurance Minister Andreas Loverdos on Thursday announced that the draft bill for reforming Greece's social insurance and pension system will be tabled in Parliament around April 30, after a report on the bill had been evaluated by the European Commission.He noted that the European Commission's evaluation of the country will take place on May 15 and that the issue of social insurance was one of the most important under scrutiny. Loverdos also announced that, based on figures collected by his ministry, Greece had definitely succeeded in meeting a goal of increasing social insurance contributions by one billion euros during the first trimester of 2010, as laid out in the Stability Programme. Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |