Athens News Agency: News in English, 10-04-23

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From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] Samaras opposes activation of EU aid package

[02] Greece will not face any borrowing problems, FinMin says

[03] Stocks end slightly lower

[01] Samaras opposes activation of EU aid package

He underlined that his party will push for solutions and practices that "will end the IMF's stifling control on the country sooner than anticipated."

"Greece has the means, the resources and the people to pull itself out of the crisis using its own powers and regain the confidence of the foreign markets as well as its citizens'," Samaras said, accusing the ruling PASOK party of being solely responsible for the borrowing crisis plaguing the country.

Government reply to Samaras

Replying to main opposition New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras, government spokesman George Petalotis on Friday said the main opposition leader's statements were a "monument to temerity, mockery of the people and political amnesia".

"He spoke as if he had never been a minister of the ND governments that led the country to chaos in five years," Petalotis said.

Greeks remembered ND well as the government that fed a state-sector rampant with wastefulness, corruption, untransparency, scandals and a mass of state hirings along party lines, he added.

The former ruling party had then abandoned the country to its fate, leaving the Greek people with a deficit of 13.6 percent of GDP as a 'dowry', Petalotis continued.

"Yesterday's figures from Eurostat confirmed in the most categoric way the pre-election lies and the blatant deception of the Greek people," the spokesman stressed.

"The admission of failure was expressed in the most revealing way by Samaras himself, when the spokesman of his party said that the government received from ND 'a deficit crisis and a debt crisis'. In as far as ND's proposals for the country's exit from the crisis were concerned, we are still waiting for them since, up until now, apart from wishful thinking they add nothing specific," Petalotis noted, calling on ND to admit the extent of its responsibility for the state of country.

[02] Greece will not face any borrowing problems, FinMin says

Papaconstantinou said a letter sent to Eurogroup, the European Commission and the European Central Bank was a signal to begin procedures. "We started the procedure," he said adding that there was no immediate need of borrowing.

Papaconstantinou said he had already contacted with EU Commissioner Olli Rehn, Eurogroup president Jean-Claude Juncker and the vice-president of the European Central Bank, Lucas Papademos (the president Jean-Claude Trichet was in Washington).

The Greek minister stressed that a three-year program will cut the country's fiscal deficit and will put the country on the road of sustainable growth. The European Commission was already preparing its own report, as well as the European Central Bank. Papakonstantinou will take part in an IMF spring ministerial meeting in Washington.

[03] Stocks end slightly lower

The FTSE 20 index eased 0.04 pct, the FTSE 40 index ended 0.83 pct lower and the FTSE 80 index fell 0.42 pct. Chemicals (1.48 pct) and Constructions (1.14 pct) scored gains, while Commerce (3.04 pct) and Utilities (2.65 pct) suffered the heaviest percentage losses of the day.

Altec (13.33 pct), Edrasi (12.5 pct), Attica Publications (9.52 pct) were top gainers, while Shelman (20 pct), Nutriart (18.18 pct) and Loulis Mills (9.71 pct) were top losers. Broadly, decliners led advancers by 92 to 88 with another 48 issues unchanged.

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