Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 16-06-15

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

CONTENTS

[01] 'Greek economy needs 80 bln euros to recover,' Stathakis tells Parliament

[02] UN's Ban Ki-moon to meet Tsipras in Athens, visit Lesvos on June 18

[03] National Bank completes sale of Finansbank to Qatar National Bank

[01] 'Greek economy needs 80 bln euros to recover,' Stathakis tells Parliament

He contradicted Hatzidakis' claim that the new law only offered 480 million euros in financing when the country needed 100-120 billion, noting that the money available under the new law, combined with tax exemptions it offers, actually amounted to 3.6 billion euros. Of this, he added, 2.6 billion euros would go toward the investment programmes of the previous laws.

"Yesterday you said 100 billion euros [were needed]. Today it's 120 billion. Make up your mind," Stathakis told ND's vice-president, outlining where the 80 billion will come from. "There are the public investments, about 20 billion euros from the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF), 20 billion euros from private enterprise and bank loans and the financing tools of the European Investment Bank," he pointed out.

The government had also reduced the red tape needed to set up a new business and included 42 mature projects in the Juncker plan, the minister repeated.

Hatzidakis also criticised the draft law for failing to provide incentives for new investments but raising obstacles instead, such as restrictions on bank transactions, overtaxation, a freeze on business licences and public-private partnerships, while absorption of NSRF funds had falled to a minimal 2 pct.

Addressing Parliament earlier, Stathakis had noted that only 15 billion of a nominal 80 billion euro in overdue taxpayers' debt to the state were the actual arrears; the remaining 65 billion euros were debts owed by companies that have closed or persons dead since the 1980s.

Stathakis denied that exports had fallen, noting that the data included oil products and that skewed the final result because of the fall in their prices.

The discussion in Parliament on the new development law will be concluded late on Wednesday, followed by the voting procedure.

[02] UN's Ban Ki-moon to meet Tsipras in Athens, visit Lesvos on June 18

Earlier on Saturday (09:30 local), Ban will meet with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias at Maximos Mansion in Athens. Statements to the press will follow.

[03] National Bank completes sale of Finansbank to Qatar National Bank

Following completion of the transaction, National Bank's pro forma CET1 index grew by around 740 bp in the first quarter to 21.8 pct. This capital boost will pave the way for the repayment of a 2.0-billion-euro CoCos issued by National Bank in December 2015.

National Bank, in an announcement, said that it will use this money to significantly reduce costs and noted that the sale of Finansbank underlined the bank's devotion to successfully implement a restructuring programme.

Leonidas Fragiadakis, chief executive of National Bank, commenting on the transaction said the sale "reflected the determination of the bank to create value for its shareholders and to adhere to its commitments. National Bank is today the strongest bank in Greece on capital adequacy and liquidity terms."

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