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Sunday, 24 November 2024
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Athens News Agency: News in English, 10-05-02Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>CONTENTS
[01] Barroso: Conditions have been metBrussels (ANA-Mpa) -- European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso said in Brussels on Sunday that a new package of measures agreed in Athens earlier in the day between the Greek government and EU and International Monetary Fund (IMF) was "solid and credible", and thus recommends activation of the European support mechanism for the Greek economy.The Commission considers that the agreed set of measures constitutes a solid and credible package and fully meets the conditions for positively responding to the Greek request for activation of the EU support mechanism for the Greek economy, and recommends its activation, Barroso said in a written statement issued in Brussels. Barroso welcomed the decision reached in Athens with the Greek authorities on a multi-annual fiscal adjustment and structural reforms program jointly prepared by the European Commission, the European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). He said the Greek government, under the determined leadership of prime minister George Papandreou, has committed to a difficult but necessary process of reforms to put the Greek economy on a viable road and regain confidence. [02] Waterloo of gov't predictionsANA-MPA/Main opposition New Democracy (ND) leader Antonis Samaras on Sunday called the new package of austerity measures announced by the government earlier in the day as a "Waterloo of the government's predictions and policies", adding that "my only concern today is the implementation of policies that will take us out of this vise at the earliest".Samaras charged the prime minister of "announcing today as Greece's 'salvation' that which up to a few days ago he had been ruling out as harmful and unnecessary: Additional drastic measures, much worse than those already taken and which up until a few days ago were deemed as absolutely 'adequate'." "We are seeing the admission of a genuine Waterloo of the government's forecasts and policies. They had predicted a recession this year of -0.3 percent, and today they admit that the recession will be more than tenfold up, reaching -4.0 percent. They had assured us that the Stability and Development Program was fully adequate for this year. Now they admit that it has essentially failed and are imposing new, much more drastic measures, with new increases in indirect taxes and additional salary cutbacks in the public sector," Samaras said. "Either they were lying to us up to now, or they lost control much earlier. Or both. At any rate, they have spent every last reserve of credibility in a few short months," the opposition leader said, adding that today the government was giving "a much bigger dose of a 'medicine' that has already failed". Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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