Athens News Agency: News in English, 11-02-24

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

CONTENTS

[01] BoG: Larger adjustments needed

[02] Evacuation of Greeks from Libya underway

[03] ASE opening: Decline 

[01] BoG: Larger adjustments needed

Speaking in Parliament while presenting the central bank's annual report on monetary policy for the period 2010-2011 to a parliamentary commission, the central banker said the return of the country (and of the banking system) to international credit markets was facing hurdles because of the countryâs upward dynamism of its public debt, a problem that cannot be resolved with the memorandum or a restructuring of the debt -with the latter being a "catastrophic option".

"We have to bite the bullet, and solve the problem on our own," Provopoulos said and recommended the urgent beginning of an effort to record all public real estate property and its exploitation. He stressed that a government-set goal of raising 50 billion euros was a difficult but feasible target, adding he would raise this figure further. He also recommended focusing on the countryâs growth potential, further cutting wage costs but not through horizontal cuts.

Provopoulos said he supported mergers between Greek banks, saying they would present losses this year as the European Central Bank was gradually lifting its liquidity support measures. "It is certain that we will have to look towards attracting foreign capital," the central banker said.

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[02] Evacuation of Greeks from Libya underway

The planes are due to land shortly after noon at the airports in Tripoli and Sabah to pick up more than 100 and 40 Greeks respectively, after receiving landing permission from the Libyan authorities.(ANA-MPA)

Dollis outlined the difficulties of the operation in a statement just before takeoff from Elefsis, noting that there are approximately 300 Greeks in Libya.(ANA-MPA)

Meanwhile, two Greek passenger ships, the Hellenic Spirit and the Olympic Champion, set sail from the port of Benghazi at dawn Thursday with Greeks and citizens of other countries leaving Libya, and were due to arrive at the port of Heraklion, on the island of Crete, sometime after noon, while the Greek navy frigate Psara left a port in Crete at dawn Thursday and will remain off Libya on standby.(ANA-MPA)

Foreign ministry spokesman Grigoris Delavekouras said that Greece is serving as a transit center for citizens of other countries leaving Libya, adding that, in collaboration with the Chinese government, Athens has undertaken the evacuation of some 13,000-15,000 Chinese citizens.(ANA-MPA)

Approximately 15,000 evacuees are expected to arrive Thursday on Crete, where a reception operation has been set up by the local administration following a telephone call by prime minister George Papandreou to Crete's regional chief.(ANA-MPA)

(Photo by EPA)

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[03] ASE opening: Decline

Individual sector indices were moving mostly downward, with the biggest losses in Health, down 1.38 percent; and Banks, down 1.27 percent.

The biggest gains were in Insurance, up 4.81 percent; and Travel & Recreation, up 1.47 percent.

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavily traded stocks was down 1.00 percent, the FTSE/ASE MID 40 index was down 0.85 percent, and the FTSE/ASE-80 small cap index was down 0.24 percent.

Of the stocks traded, 30 were up, 41 were down, and 10 were unchanged.

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