Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 16-09-07

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

CONTENTS

[01] There will be no new pension cuts, Labour Minister Katrougalos says

[02] Greek trade deficit up 88.9 pct in July

[03] The Ietionian Gate, part of Piraeus port ancient walls, to be upgraded

[04] Refugees and migrants continue to arrive on the Greek islands

[01] There will be no new pension cuts, Labour Minister Katrougalos says

The minister said that main pensions were not reduced, while supplementary pensions were cut only when total pension payment surpassed 1,300 euros. Katrougalos said that supplementary pensions were cut up to 40 pct in some cases in order to achieve a balanced contribution-benefit rate. He added that there will be a limit of 10 pct on retrospective pension cuts.

He said that the ministry was seeking an agreement with creditors on freezing arrears to pension funds and to reach some kind of an arrangement to repay these debts. Katrougalos said all three prior-actions related with the ministry have been agreed with creditors, including an integration of healthcare contribution from January 2017 and reiterated that the government has set red lines in negotiations over group dismissals, collective bargaining and lock out. He noted that the state will stand by the side of any potential unemployed workers in TV stations that failed to obtain a TV license.

[02] Greek trade deficit up 88.9 pct in July

The statistics service, in a monthly report on the country's merchandise trade, said the trade deficit grew 9.7 pct in the seven-month period from January to July.

The value of import-arrivals amounted to 3.593.6 million euros in July, from 3.040 billion in the same month last year, an increase of 18.2 pct (excluding oil products, the value of imports grew 26.5 pct).

The value of export-deliveries totaled 2.249 billion euros, from 2.329 billion in the same month in 2015, a decline of 3.4 pct (excluding oil products the value of exports rose 0.7 pct).

The country's trade deficit totaled 1.344 billion euros in July, from 711.6 million in July last year, an increase of 88.9 pct (excluding oil products the trade deficit soared 97.9 pct).

In the January-July period, the value of imports totaled 25.207 billion euros, down 0.5 pct from the corresponding period last year (excluding oil products, imports grew 8.8 pct), while the value of exports totaled 14.249 billion euros, down 7.2 pct from 2015 (excluding oil products exports fell 0.9 pct).

The country's trade defice in the seven-month period amounted to 10.958 billion euros, up 9.7 pct from 2015 (excluding oil products the trade deficit grew 21.9 pct).

[03] The Ietionian Gate, part of Piraeus port ancient walls, to be upgraded

The Ietionian Gate is the largest archaeological site of Piraeus coast. It is situated south of the central port that it used to protect in the antiquity. Its importance is dual not only because it was the port's bastion and one of the two entrances in the fortified city of Pireaus (the second entrance was at the Urban Gates) but because one can see the fortification techniques developed between the 5th and 3rd century BC.

[04] Refugees and migrants continue to arrive on the Greek islands

On Wednesday, 5,156 migrants and refugees were in Moria hotspot on Lesvos, 3.399 remain trapped on Chios and 1,029 are on Samos.

According to police, 9,584 of the migrants and refugees that are on Lesvos, Chios and Samos have sought political asylum in Greece.

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