Athens News Agency: News in English, 10-09-20

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

CONTENTS

[01] PM Papandreou visits New York Stock Exchange

[02] Samaras: Truths needed to move ahead

[03] Budget deficit down 32.3% in Jan-Aug

[04] IOBE head: Exiting memorandum means economic 'death'

[05] Greek current accounts deficit down 0.9% in Jan-Jul

[06] BoG on Greek bank stress tests

[01] PM Papandreou visits New York Stock Exchange

"We are responding to our commitments in time and within the time limits that had been set and often much earlier than expected exceeding expectations," the prime minister said, adding that now his government is focusing on strengthening growth and measures that will make the economy more competitive.

He stressed that the radical restructuring of the pensioning and taxation system has already been promoted, as well as the restructuring of the public sector that will now function with geater transparency and effectiveness.

He further said that it is proceeding with the deregulation of the markets of products, services and labour, including the liberalisation of the energy market and of closed professions and assessed that these structural reforms will lead to an increase in production by 5 percent to 6 percent.

He also pointed out that Greece is providing a great prospect for investments in renewable energy sources as well as the infrastructures sector, while mentioning that assets of the public sector whose value amounts to 270 billion euros can be privatised or utilised, an amount that corresponds to almost the entire debt of the country.

Lastly, the prime minister made it clear that there is no question of the country going bankrupt and stressed that the Greek government proved that it means what it says while expressing certainty that the spreads will recede and that while all these reforms will begin to produce results, Greece will regain the confidence of investors.

Earlier in the day, the Greek prime minister underlined what he called the disappointment caused by a lack of progress regarding the achievement of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), such as the 50-percent decrease by 2015 of people living with less than one dollar a day.

He spoke during an intervention at a roundtable discussion held at the UN headquarters.

Papandreou stressed that the number of people who are starving increased from 842 million in 1990 to 1.02 billion in 2009, a development that he termed as unacceptable. On the other hand, he stressed the progress achieved concerning the decrease in mortality, the combating of illnesses and access to education although, as he noted, a great deal still remains to be done on these fronts as well.

After stressing that it is certain that the economic crisis made the effort more difficult, he pointed out that monetary austerity is functioning as an excuse for there to be no further moves and protectionism to return that obstructs the growth of developing countries.

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[02] Samaras: Truths needed to move ahead

He accused the government and prime minister of irresponsibility and of never having consented or given a helping hand, whereas ND has maintained a responsible stance and also having lent a helping hand whenever needed.

Samaras recalled Papandreou's statement that "money exists" in his address, as the main opposition leader then, at last year's (2009) TIF, at the same time as then ND prime minister Costas Karamanlis had announced measures for the economy that, as Samaras said, were much milder than those actually implemented by PASOK.

At last year's TIF in September 2009, Samaras continued, Papandreou had warned that "if we freeze the salaries, we will freeze the market...If we increase the taxes on the middle class we will reduce their buying power, deepen the crisis and reduce the state's revenues, bringing a vicious cycle towards collapse". But later, when he came to government, Papandreou did not simply "freeze" the salaries in the public sector but reduced them at that. "He did not simply increases the taxes on the middle class, but literally skyrocketed them, and is now destroying the middle class," he continued.

"And he (Papandreou) had said all that in reference to much milder measures, which were announced at the time by (then prime minister) Costas Karamanlis," Samaras said, adding: "Back then, he had criticised the least. Today he has committed the most". (ANA-MPA)

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[03] Budget deficit down 32.3% in Jan-Aug

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[04] IOBE head: Exiting memorandum means economic 'death'

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[05] Greek current accounts deficit down 0.9% in Jan-Jul

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[06] BoG on Greek bank stress tests

In an announcement, the central bank confirmed that a decision to delay Greek banksā autumn stress tests was reached during the summer, after an agreement with the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank. (ANA-MPA)

The reason for the postponement, the central bank said, was that Greek authorities had no recent information over the condition of domestic banks, after local financial institutions passed - along with the European counterparts - an EU stress test in July. (ANA-MPA)

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