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Athens News Agency: News in English, 08-01-09
CONTENTS
[01] Health sector upgrade progressing at rapid pace
[01] Health sector upgrade progressing at rapid pace
Prime minister Costas Karamanlis met on Wednesday with Health
Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos, who said afterwards that the work in
the health sector was progressing at a rapid pace. Avramopoulos
further said that a bill on primary health care, and another bill on
hospital procurements, have been completed. In addition,
modernisation and infrastructure upgrading the sector were also
continuing, with the establishment of new hospitals and Health
Centres. <!--On Tuesday, Costas Karamanlis chaired an Inner Cabinet
meeting that focused on international economic developments and their
possible repercussions on the Greek economy, a meeting that was also
attended by Development Minister Christos Folias, who warned afterwards
that the government was determined to clamp down on profiteering in
domestic markets.
Speaking to reporters afterwards, Economy and Finance Minister George
Alogoskoufis stressed that the Greek economy, in the year ahead, has
heightened developmental prospects, which he attributed, to a great
degree, to reforms carried out in preceding years, "which will ensure
the country's growth and a further reduction of unemployment".
Alogoskoufis noted that the government has taken specific initiatives
to boost the financially weaker classes, along with the country's
further growth, and to increase employment.
Asked whether spiralling prices pose a threat to the economy,
Alogoskoufis noted that repercussions of skyrocketing oil prices and
hikes in food prices and raw materials world-wide were discussed during
the Inner Cabinet meeting, adding that, "to date, repercussions have
been manageable, but the government and the relevant mechanisms are in
constant vigilance so as to confront any re-evaluations".
Folias, in turn, noted that the "imported inflation, due to oil, grains
and milk, obviously influences prices".
Folias warned that "anyone who believes that, from here on, they can
engage in profiteering, they would do well to revise their views,
because we are determined to clamp down on them".Caption: ANA-MPA file
photo of the Greek prime minister's official office, the Maximos
Mansion in Athens. -->
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