Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 16-10-27

Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

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

CONTENTS

[01] Tsipras requested new temporary bill on TV licensing by Monday, says gov't spokeswoman

[02] Talks on non-performing business loans to continue on technical level, says economy minister

[03] IMF's participation in Greek program may be decided in December, says spokesman

[04] Parliament body to convene on Monday for TV regulator

[01] Tsipras requested new temporary bill on TV licensing by Monday, says gov't spokeswoman

Tsipras called a meeting earlier this morning with Justice Minister Nikos Paraskevopoulos, Labour Minister George Katrougalos, State Minister Nikos Pappas, Alternate Minister for Corruption Issues Dimitris Papangelopoulos and close aides to discuss the government's next steps after the Council of State ruled on Wednesday night that the current TV licensing law is unconstitutional.

"During the meeting, the government's new legislative initiative was examined thoroughly, in order to temporarily regulate the television landscape until the licensing tender and the final announcement of the licensees from the National Council for Radio and Television," the spokeswoman said.

"The prime minister asked that the new legislative initiative be ready to submit by next Monday and he also spoke with the parliament's president and asked him to convene the Conference of Presidents, ahead of the submission of the new bill, to set up the new board of NCRTV," she added, noting the government is bound by the court's decision "regardless of whether it agrees with them or not".

Gerovasili also called on the main opposition to "assume its constitutional responsibilities" in setting up the new board.

[02] Talks on non-performing business loans to continue on technical level, says economy minister

"There still is some work to be done in the negotiations on the out-of-court settlement of [non-performing] business loans, at a technical level," he said.

He said the agreement in principle stands, but there are still pending issues concerning the size of the companies which will be allowed to be included in the settlement scheme. It is expected that the companies will be categorized according to their turnover. In all cases, the minister said, a judicial mediator will intervene in the procedure.

[03] IMF's participation in Greek program may be decided in December, says spokesman

He said any decisions will be based on Greece's debt sustainability analysis which will be submitted to the fund's board in December.

"Under certain conditions, it is possible that a decision will be taken in December," Rice told journalists, noting that IMF officials who are in Athens as part of the second program review are in continuous talks with the government on the Fund's economic participation.

He added, however, that the IMF's participation requires that either the primary surplus target is lowered to 1.5 percent of the GDP, or the adoption of an even more ambitious reform program.

Rice also reiterated that the IMF estimates the primary surplus targets set in the ESM program implemented by Greece are not compatible with the measures that have been agreed and IMF's participation presupposes a program with realistic goals, which will be followed by substantial reforms and significant debt relief.

As an example of reforms envisioned by the IMF, Rice mentioned pension reform, saying that Greece's current pension system is not sustainable as its annual deficit reaches 11 percent of GDP versus 2.5 percent which the EU average. This, he said, must be dealt with.

[04] Parliament body to convene on Monday for TV regulator

Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article