Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 12-11-27

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

CONTENTS

[01] KKE leader foresees political instability to prevail in the following years

[02] IMF chief welcomes Eurogroup decisions on Greece

[03] SYRIZA leader: Eurogroup solution 'is no solution'

[04] Births in Greece decline 2.7pct in 2010

[05] Greek coin exhibition in Geneva

[01] KKE leader foresees political instability to prevail in the following years

"Although it appears that they are discussing about Greece, they are seeking a model that in the future it will possibly be applied to Spain, Italy and even in France," Papariga said on private MEGA television station late Monday.

Moreover, Papariga opined that there is a series of contradictions within the EU itself bit also between the EU- and the IMF on which the USA and China and other emerging capitalistic economies taking position.amna

On Greece, she said that the political instability, including a prospective collapse of the government, will be the characteristics of the coming years in Greece, adding that everything will be determined by the popular intervention.

[02] IMF chief welcomes Eurogroup decisions on Greece

Lagarde statement:

"I welcome the initiatives agreed today by the Eurogroup aimed at further supporting Greece's economic reform program and making a substantial contribution to the sustainability of its debt. This builds on the significant efforts by the Greek government to carry forward its fiscal and structural reform agenda.

The initiatives include Greek debt buybacks, return of Securities Market Programme (SMP) profits to Greece, reduction of Greek Loan Facility (GLF) interest rates, significant extension of GLF and European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) maturities, and the deferral of EFSF interest rate payments.amna

Taken together, these measures will help to bring back Greece's debt ratio to a sustainable path and facilitate a gradual return to market financing. The debt ratio is expected to decrease to 124 percent of GDP by 2020 through significant upfront debt reduction measures of 20 percent of GDP. In addition, I welcome the commitment by European partners to bring back Greece's debt to substantially below 110 percent of GDP by 2022, conditional on full implementation of the program by Greece. This represents a major debt reduction for Greece relative to its current debt trajectory.amna

Once progress has been made on specifying and delivering on the commitments made today, in particular implementation of the debt buybacks, I would be in a position to recommend to the IMF Executive Board the completion of the first review of Greece's program."

[03] SYRIZA leader: Eurogroup solution 'is no solution'

The negotiation was conducted between German chancellor Angela Merkel and International Monetary Fund (IMF) managing director Christine Lagarde, and the compromise was between them, he said, adding that the solution does not include Greece, and accusing the Greek government of being "absent from the negotiation".amna

He said that after the developments at Tuesday's Eurogroup, SYRIZA feels vindicated on its predictions regarding the confrontation of the crisis, noting that "after subsequent failures of a programme that has led society to catastrophe and does not attain any of the targets promised, everyone listens to us with greater attention and we feel vindicated because all of our predictions have unfortunately come true".

Tsipras accused the government of saying different things before the elections and of following a strategy of subjugation, adding that "two years ago they were telling us that the target is sustainability of the debt at 120 percent of GDP, whereas now they are telling us that it can be sustainable at 124 percent, and tomorrow they may tells us that it is sustainable at 130 percent".amna

"These are not solutions," Tsipras stressed.

He said that the only solution is for Greece to re-enter the negotiations and be present at the decisions.amna

"The only real solution is the big political change that is coming, that the people come to the forefront. And everyone now awaits this great political change in Greece," Tsipras added.

[04] Births in Greece decline 2.7pct in 2010

The data for 2011 are currently in the final stage of processing.

According to ELSTAT, a total of 114,766 births were recorded in Greece in 2010, of which 93,192 were from Greek mothers, posting a decline of 2.6 percent against the preceding year, while 21,574 births were from foreign mothers, posting a 3.2 percent decline against 2009.amna

Figures for births in the period 2004-2010 were submitted by ELSTAT in reply to a question tabled by Independent Greeks MP Maria-Kollia Tsaroucha on demographic ageing and low birth rates in Greece.

[05] Greek coin exhibition in Geneva

The exhibition is enriched with material from the Numismatic Collection of the private public benefit foundation KIKPE (Welfare Foundation for Social and Cultural Affairs) on loan to the Benaki Museum.amna

The exhibition invites visitors on a journey through space and time. The display features coins that portray twenty centuries of history, spanning the 5th century BC to the 15th century AD – from the 'invention' of democracy in Greece, to the glory and decline of Byzantium.amna

The exhibition will run through March 17, 2013.

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