Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 17-05-11

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

CONTENTS

[01] Greece must pay due attention to digital market to get ahead, EU Commissioner Ansip warns

[02] IMF wants deal on debt before entering Greek program, says spox

[01] Greece must pay due attention to digital market to get ahead, EU Commissioner Ansip warns

"Greece has run an austerity marathon but I believe it is now running the last kilometre, provided that it pays due attention to the digital single market," Ansip said during a press conference at the European Commission's Representation in the Greek capital.

He pointed out that Greece still ranks 26th among the EU member-states in this area but last year posted notable progress - the fifth best among all member-states - rising 8.6 pct.

"In the last two years, Greece has paid greater attention to the digital market, it is heading in the right direction but more needs to be done," Ansip said. The areas that needed to be improved included public-sector digital services, which must offer more efficient and cheaper services to citizens and thus create additional demand in the private sector, he noted.

Greece's 'success stories' in this area included electronic medical prescriptions and the electronic tax portal, but a great deal more could be done, such as the 'single digital ID' introduced by Ansip's native Estonia using a smartcard, he pointed out.

"We have calculated that in this way we save one working week, or 2 pct of GDP, which corresponds to our budget for defence. Therefore the system works," the Commissioner added.

Regarding the goals of the EU in this area, Ansip referred to the abolition of roaming charges in mid-June 2017 and the compromise decision reached to devote the 700 Mhz band for use by 5G mobile services. The aim is to make 5G technology available to all Europeans by 2025 and ensure that it is available in at least one city in each country by 2020.

[02] IMF wants deal on debt before entering Greek program, says spox

Murray confirmed the issue will be discussed at the G7 meeting of finance officials and central bank governors this week in Bari, Italy, and that Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras will meet with IMF's managing director, Christine Lagarde, on the sidelines of his visit to China.

Asked about the discussions on Greece's debt, he said they are ongoing but no deal has been reached. "Discussions on the debt side of the equation have only just started, so it's really early […] Our position hasn't changed."

Concerning the ongoing talks with Greece's second program review, he said "nothing has changed compared to last week", and reiterated that a technical deal on reforms must go hand in hand with a reliable strategy on debt sustainability.

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