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Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 15-04-30
CONTENTS
[01] Greek unemployment eases to 25.7 pct in January, Eurostat reports
[02] Varoufakis rules out VAT hike for Greek islands
[01] Greek unemployment eases to 25.7 pct in January, Eurostat reports
ANA-MPA -- The Greek unemployment rate eased slightly to 25.7 pct of
the workforce in January, compared with December 2014, but remained
the highest in the Eurozone and the EU, Eurostat said on Thursday.
In a report released here, the EU executive's statistics agency said the
unemployment rates in the Eurozone and the EU-28 in March were at 11.3 pct
and 9.8 pct, respectively unchanged from February, but down compared with
March 2014 (11.7 pct and 10.4 pct). The number of unemployed people in
the EU was 23.7 million in March and 18.1 million in the Eurozone. Greece
recorded the highest unemployment rate followed by Spain (23 pct) and
Cyprus (16 pct). Germany (4.7 pct) and Austria (5.6 pct) recorded the
lowest unemployment rates. In Greece, the number of unemployed people
fell to 1.22 million in January, with the unemployment rate among men at
22.5 pct and among women at 29.6 pct. The unemployment rate among young
people, aged below 25 years, fell to 50.1 pct in January from 50.8 pct
in December, followed by Spain (50.1 pct), Croatia (45.5 pct) and Italy
(43.1 pct). Germany (7.2 pct), Austria (10.5 pct), Denmark and Holland
(10.8 pct) recorded the lowest unemployment rates among young people. In
the Eurozone yough unemployment was 22.7 pct in March.
[02] Varoufakis rules out VAT hike for Greek islands
ANA-MPA -- Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis denied reports of an
imminent VAT hike for Greece's islands, in statements to reporters
outside Parliament on Thursday.
"There is no such discussion," Varoufakis said, though he did not rule
out the possibility of a tax on luxury accommodation, clarifying that
this did not include three-star hotels. He predicted that there would
be minimal reactions to such a measure, noting that someone now playing
1,000 euros a night for an overnight stay will instead have to pay 1,040
euros. Regarding the two 'key' issues where the government has pledged
not to back down - namely pension cuts and the social insurance system -
Varoufakis said that these will be discussed in June as part of a 'grand
agreement' with the creditors.
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