Titoli di Stato area Euro GRECIA Operativo titoli di stato - Cap. 1

[tommy271]

Chinese, Russians bolster ailing tourism sector



The number of Chinese tourists visiting Greece shot up 542 percent in the first half of the year, as the Asian market grows in importance for the tourism sector, according to data provided by the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT). The number of Chinese tourists rose to 9,264 from 1,442 in the same period a year earlier. Visitors from Asia accounted for 5.7 percent of Greece’s total tourist arrivals, rising from 3.1 percent last year. Russia also provided the sector with some support at a time when visitors from key markets, such as Germany and the United Kingdom, fell by an annual pace of between 5.5 and 11 percent. Nearly 120,000 Russians visited Greece between January and June, up 67.3 percent on the previous year. On a broader level, 4.65 million nonresidents visited the country’s shores in the six-month period, down 5.3 percent year-on-year, according to the ELSTAT data.

(Kathimerini.gr)

 

[tommy271]

Banks make loan terms friendlier


By Yiannis Papadoyiannis - Kathimerini


Banks have renegotiated loans with businesses and households worth more than 70 billion euros, or some 25 percent of the total credit extended in Greece, this year.
Bank officials admit that much of their time has been taken up in offering loan holders more favorable terms in repaying their debts as the crisis bites into the real economy.
Rolling over debts and extending the time period on credit lines are among some of the techniques being used to help ease the debt burden of households and businesses.

Some analysts predict that refinanced loans actually reach 40 percent of total outstanding debt, totaling some 100 billion euros. Among the first to be offered more favorable terms are the self-employed and businesses.
According to bank officials, some 52 billion euros of business loans, amounting to 35 percent of credit in this category, have been refinanced.
Bank of Greece data show that, at the end of August, businesses held 129 billion euros of credit with another 13.7 billion going to the self-employed and sole traders. Lenders are being called upon to spot the business owners who genuinely want to save their businesses.

«The difficulty is in differentiating between those businesses that can save themselves and recover from the crisis and those that have huge problems and basically have no future,» said a senior banking official.
Despite the agressive tactics adopted by lenders to safeguard their loan portfolios, nonperforming loans (NPLs) are rising.
According to Bank of Greece data, NPLs rose to 8.2 percent of total debt at the end of March, from 7.7 percent at the end of 2009. The figure is expected to reach 9 percent in June ahead of another expected jump to 10 percent at the end of this year, according to bank sources.


(Kathimerini.gr)

 

[tommy271]

Imitation products a costly affair



Some 20 billion euros of imitation and contraband products are sold in Greece every year, robbing the government of billions of euros in lost taxes, according to a trade group.
The National Confederation of Greek Commerce (ESEE) called on the government on Thursday to increase checks for illegally traded goods, arguing that Greece loses out on more than 5 billion euros in tax revenues per year.


“In a period where there is a crisis in consumption, we have an opportunity to make Greek consumers more sensitive and inform them of living without these products,” said Vassilis Korkidis, ESEE’s president, in a statement.
ESEE said that up to 10 percent of electrical goods, including gadgets, reach consumers in Greece via the black market, while 15 percent of alcoholic and tobacco products are undeclared to authorities.


With almost two-thirds of the imitation and contraband products confiscated by Greek authorities coming from China, the goods often enter the country via the ports of Patra and Igoumenitsa from Italy.
They are then passed on to their distribution network through the ports of Piraeus and Thessaloniki, ESEE added.


(Kathimerini.gr)

 

[ferdo]

estratto:
".... Regling, tedesco, già capo della direzione Economia della Commissione, ora vociferato anche quale possibile candidato della Merkel alla Bce ..."
è il capo del "veicolo europeo".
Han silurato Weber a candidato?! Speriamo!

 

[tommy271]

estratto:
".... Regling, tedesco, già capo della direzione Economia della Commissione, ora vociferato anche quale possibile candidato della Merkel alla Bce ..."
è il capo del "veicolo europeo".
Han silurato Weber a candidato?! Speriamo!

I nomi che escono per primi sono destinati ad essere bruciati.
Il candidato vero uscirà allo scoperto qualche mese prima che Trichet avrà terminato il mandato.

 

[tommy271]

Grecia Il premier Papandreou: «No a nuove misure di austerità»



Il primo ministro greco George Papandreou esclude nuove misure di austerità, taglio di spesa o aumento di tasse, «qualsiasi cosa accada». La Grecia si appresta a tornare alle urne nel giro di due settimane per elezioni amministrative. «Accada quel che accada, non ci sarà un carico supplementare per lavoratori dipendenti e pensionati, e neanche aumenti di imposta oltre quelli per i quali ci siamo già impegnati», ha detto in un intervento pubblicato dal quotidiano «To Vima».

(Il Giornale)

 

[tommy271]

Sciopero delle ferrovie in Grecia

Paese in tilt per l'intera settimana

Ancora scioperi e proteste in Grecia, travolta dalla crisi economica. Una settimana di scioperi paralizza da oggi le ferrovie greche contro la parziale privatizzazione della compagnia di stato Ose. I treni interurbani e suburbani, compresa la navetta per l'aeroporto, resteranno fermi sino a mercoledì e poi ancora venerdì provocando la cancellazione o la drastica riduzione dei collegamenti lungo tutta la settimana fino a domenica.


(TGcom)

 

[tommy271]

IMMIGRAZIONE: L'UE AIUTERA' ATENE

BRUXELLES - La commissaria europea agli affari interni Cecilia Malmstroem ha assicurato ieri sera che la Ue farà il possibile per aiutare la Grecia a far fronte al crescente afflusso di immigranti clandestini. Atene ha chiesto alla Ue di contribuire alla sorveglianza del confine terrestre con la Turchia e delle proprie coste mobilitando unità della Frontex, l'agenzia europea per la sorveglianza delle frontiere esterne.

Malmstroem ha detto di avere attivato il meccanismo di collegamento con Frontex «per poter gestire questa emergenza nel modo più rapido e efficace possibile». «La situazione al confine terrestre greco-turco è sempre più preoccupante, i flussi di persone che attraversano la frontiera clandestinamente hanno raggiunto proporzioni allarmanti e la Grecia non è in grado di fare tutto da sola», ha affermato la commissaria.
Secondo l'Onu, nell'anno in corso il 90 per cento dei clandestini bloccati sul territorio della Ue sono stati scoperti proprio in Grecia.

(Corriere del Ticino)

 

[tommy271]

Papandreou’s troubles may blur Erdoğan’s visit




The important trip of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to Greece last week may not have produced immediate impressive results, at least on first sight. However, if one judges from the overall high pitched tone of the Turkish media, the Turkish delegation went to Greece determined to show that the relations with its neighbor are now one step ahead in earnest. Fresh after the success of the “referendum for more democracy,” the Erdoğan government is now on a more sure footing to give new impetus to its relations with Greece without any fear either of a nationalist opposition or an opposing army. And it can escape nobody’s attention that the message from Ankara since the election of George Papandreou just over a year ago has been that this is a government with which they can do much better business than before.


The trip to Athens should be included in this context of an increased impetus aiming at concrete results. Behind the photo-ops and the exaggerated coverage of the meeting, especially among the pro-government Turkish media, one could detect that the two sides are actually talking seriously this time in order to reach some kind of solution over their disputes. Behind the concrete progress made so far on issues like the return of the Prinkipo Orphanage to the Ecumenical Patriarchate, or a “joint Greek-Turkish initiative to curb illegal immigration to the EU,” there seem to be serious secret discussions in the background between the two sides where, according to the Turkish prime minister, a “productive” dialogue is taking place. However a productive dialogue with the Turks may ring alarm bells to many circles in Greece which would interpret it -- and they do -- as an indication of Greece losing diplomatic ground in the Aegean, or even in Greek Thrace.


However, the time for a full discussion of all the issues between Turks and Greeks may be convenient or even pressing for the Turks, who are eager to get some kind of favorable progress report from the EU next month. But this cannot be said for the Greek side. To start with, the Papandreou government prefers to shroud the content of the bilateral discussions of the committee of experts – who have been meeting over the last year with a renewed agenda -- with enough vagueness. Do the two sides discuss a series of bilateral issues or just the issue of the delineation of the continental shelf? Will they agree on a draft text in order to go to The Hague or not? The opposition is arguing that the present Greek government is giving in to Turkish demands and that Erdoğan is enjoying not only the victory of the referendum which secured his electoral victory in the coming general elections but also a free hand in foreign policy.
On the other hand, the visit of the Turkish official delegation to Athens took place at a highly crucial time for the Papandreou government. With local elections only days away -- Nov. 7 -- these elections, which will also introduce a radical reorganization of the system of local government in Greece, are proving a major headache for the government.


After a year in power the Papandreou government is now about to face the first major test of its popularity. The unprecedented financial crisis which has placed Greece under the tightest straightjacket of an austerity program has created scores of unemployed, especially among the young. According to the latest figures published in the Greek press, 25 percent of the population cannot pay their telephone bills and 12 percent their electricity bills. All the polls are pointing to a trend of total disillusionment from politics which may keep Greeks away from the ballot box. But there is an even worse trend that is worrying the Greek government: that they may face a protest vote against their own candidates by an enraged electorate.
If the coming local elections prove a major defeat for the Papandreou government, then it may be difficult for them to push ahead with a Greek-Turkish agenda which may involve even the slightest concessional step from the part of the Greeks. In an atmosphere of recession the sentiment which discredits all politicians increases as well as nationalism.


***
Un commento sulla visita di Erdogan in Grecia, da parte del giornale turco Hurriyet.

 

[tommy271]

PM: Effort for Greece will continue

Πηγή: Express.gr 25/10/10-09:25

Prime minister George Papandreou affirmed that the effort to save and reform the country will be completed, speaking in Alexandroupolis on Sunday, adding that Greece was at a "crossroads" for "exiting from the economic crisis but also the wider crisis of institutions, a social, ethical and political crisis", adding that the support mechanism for the Greek economy serves as a "shield that is held up by our EU partners on the one side and by us on the other".

He also called on the Greek people to send a message "inside and outside the country" by voting for the candidates that can serve the new concept of local administration and the Kallikratis program in the November 7 local government elections.

Calling the EU support mechanism for the Greek economy a shield that his held up the country's EU partners on the one end and by Greece itself on the other, he stressed that the aim is for country to hold up the shield entirely on its own, without "lending powers", and exit the economic surveillance the soonest possible.

The premier added, however, that the shield must not be put down too early, before the country is ready to face the global economy solely on its own power.

This, he said, "means that the time is now for the major changes in our country" so that the effort will not go to waste.

In an article appearing in the Sunday issue of To Vima newspaper, Papandreou stressed the significance of the November 7 vote, saying that the local government elections "acquire an even deeper political content" in which the citizens will give a clear-cut indication of where they want the country to go.

"We have already traversed a great distance from the brink of the cliff we had found ourselves, but the effort has not ended. The alert has not ended," he said.

Papandreou said that 2011 will be the "second critical half-time and the last year of recession", and assured that the Memorandum will be adhered to, but stressed that there will be no further burden placed on salary and pension earners, nor any new increase in tax rates.

The target, he continued, is for Greece to have "positive rates of healthy growth", and for 2013 to be "the final year of implementation of the Memorandum".

(express.gr)