Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 12-11-21

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

CONTENTS

[01] Juncker disappointed with Eurogroup meeting outcome

[02] National conference on developments regarding HIV

[03] The Wednesday edition of Athens' dailies

[04] Budget deficit down in Jan-Oct .

[01] Juncker disappointed with Eurogroup meeting outcome

Asked whether he is disappointed that an agreement was not reached, Juncker replied that "I no longer have delusions on Europe".

Juncker explained that an agreement could not be reached because Germany, the Netherlands and Finland failed to find a compromise solution with the IMF on the sustainability of the Greek debt, adding that some technical issues concerning the sustainability and financing of the Greek debt remain open and need to be examined at the next scheduled Eurogroup meeting on Monday, November 26. amna

Moreover, Juncker said that Greece, on its part, has done what it was required to do.amna

Asked if he anticipated an agreement will be reached on November 26, Juncker replied that agreement could have been achieved at Tuesday's meeting, and therefore he believes that it can be achieved on Monday.

[02] National conference on developments regarding HIV

The positive news was emphasised in view of the 24th national conference on AIDS, however, the negative news is that some strains of the virus -- detected around the world and in Greece -- have become extremely resistant to the latest anti-retro-viral drugs. Additionally, the number of new AIDS-infected patients is increasing due to transmission amongst users of intravenous drugs. amna

According to researchers, the combined anti-retro-viral therapy (cART) was a triumph of modern AIDS treatment 15 years ago, and led to a significant improvement in the quality of life of patients, in addition to increasing life expectancy. amna

However, experts stressed that eradication of the disease has not yet been accomplished, even though latest data show that this may be feasible in the future.amna

Within 2013, two new combinations of anti-retro-viral drugs are expected to be available, but scientific efforts to develop an effective vaccine for the cure of the HIV infection have not yet been met with success.

[03] The Wednesday edition of Athens' dailies

The Eurogroup's marathon meeting in Brussels on Tuesday and its failure to agree a solution to for the sustainability of the Greek debt, mostly dominated the headlines on Wednesday in Athens' newspapers.

ADESMEFTOS TYPOS: "Thriller in Eurogroup".

AVGHI: "Government makes 2,000 layoffs of permanent employees in public sector while proceeding with 1,853 new hirings".

EFIMERIDA TON SYNTAKTON: "Blackmail and compromises".

ESTIA: "All-night thriller on Greece".

ETHNOS: "Tough night for Greece in Brussels".

IMERISSIA: "All-night thriller - Dramatic hours in Eurogroup".

KATHIMERINI: "Long night for the Greek debt".

LOGOS: "Greek debt a 'hot potato'."

NAFTEMPORIKI: "Hours of agony in Eurogroup without final agreement".

RIZOSPASTIS: "NATO murderers keep away from schools".

TA NEA: "The night of the huge bargaining".

VRADYNI: "Who are affected by the new retirement ages".

6 DAYS: "853,282 citizens will not 'eat' from the installment".

[04] Budget deficit down in Jan-Oct .

Net budget revenues totaled 41.777 billion euros in the January-October period, up 1.5 pct from the same period in 2011 and up 272 million euros compared with a revised budget target. Net regular budget revenues totaled 39.131 billion euros in the 10-month period, up 499 million euros from a 2012 budget target of 38.632 billion euros. This increase is attributed to higher revenues in October, receipts from capital taxes, the receipt of 79.5 million euros from Spain (return transfer from the Spanish central bank's Greek bond holdings) and a satisfactory course of property tax receipts.

State budget spending totaled 54.036 billion euros in the January-October period, down 894 million euros from a budget target of 54.930 bln.

Regular budget spending fell short of budget targets by 368 million euros, reflecting lower primary spending by 280 million euros, lower spending on defense programmes and lower spending on subsidising state hospitals.

Spending on interest totaled 11.119 billion euros, slightly down from a budget target of 11.131 billion euros. State budget spending were down 13.2 pct compared with the corresponding period last year.

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