Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 13-01-02

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

CONTENTS

[01] General gov't surplus at 2.3bln euro in 11-month period

[02] Greek market opposes imposition of capital gains tax‏

[03] 'Costa Magica' first cruise ship entering Piraeus in 2013

[01] General gov't surplus at 2.3bln euro in 11-month period

"Tahoma","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#0F1419; The ministry said that the performance in the 11-month period remained at the same level as the 10-month period of 2012, with a reduction of 119 million euro in the state's outstanding debts in November.amna

"Tahoma","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#0F1419; It added that the General Government data of the 11-month period of January-November 2012 "confirm the satisfactory execution of the budget", noting that "these positive developments in the execution of the budget indicate that the effort fiscal streamlining, adjustment and discipline are bearing fruit, while the conditions are also being created for a gradual re-start of the economy, aiming for the country to move on from a deficits cycle to a cycle of sustainable growth, on firm foundations".amna

[02] Greek market opposes imposition of capital gains tax‏

Constantinos Botopoulos, president of the Capital Market Commission, addressing a ceremony to launch the first trading session of 2013 in the Athens Stock Exchange, said the measure should not be imposed.

Botopoulos said that the Greek economy and the capital market should begin seeing the first signs of recovery this year –on the preconditions of maintaining a stability policy and having smooth economic developments in Europe- and stressed that the Greek market was expected to enjoy an improved regulatory framework and to be cleared from inactive companies in the market. amna

The Athens Stock Exchange was among the top performers in Europe in 2012 and was expected to attract even more investment interest from abroad this year, Socrates Lazarides, president of the Athens Stock Exchange and chief executive of Hellenic Exchanges said. He noted that the composite index of the market was the top performer in Europe and ranked 10th among 92 markets worldwide.amna

Hellenic Exchanges' chairman, Iakovos Georganas, said that the trend of the market was showing that things would be better in 2013 and underlined the significance of promoted structural reforms and a bank recapitalization plan.amna

George Zanias, chairman of National Bank, said there were fundamental reasons to be optimistic for this year and stressed the significance of strictly adhering to a reform program and execution of the state budget.

[03] 'Costa Magica' first cruise ship entering Piraeus in 2013

"Greece is a unique destination offering quality, security, natural beauty and a timeless culture," Anomeritis said, adding that "2013 will be a good year for the sea cruise and the port will welcome more than 2.2 million tourists".

The "Costa Magica" is part of the Costa shipping company, owned by Carnival Group. Carnival has scheduled 74 visits to Piraeus port this year, up from 33 in 2012.

Piraeus port operates 11 sea cruise vessel docking positions and plans to expand its facilities with six new docking positions. The port will freeze its docking rates in the 2013-2016 period and has already began operating a berth allocation regulation for the current year.

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