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Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 14-04-10
CONTENTS
[01] Greece will exit the crisis, Almunia says
[01] Greece will exit the crisis, Almunia says
ANA/MPA--Greece has followed the right path and will manage to exit the
crisis at the end, Joaquin Almunia, European Commission vice-president
responsible for Competition, said on Thursday.
Addressing a conference on Competition organized by the Greek EU
Presidency in Athens, Almunia wished luck to the country's exit in
international markets. "I remember the beginning of the debt crisis. Since
then, Greece has implemented ambitious reforms with the sacrifices of
the Greek people. The course has not yet finished. The road is long
and not an easy one. This is not a speed race but an endurance race,"
Almunia said, adding that the government should not lose the finish
line in this race. He expressed his satisfaction for the job done by
the Greek Competition Commission and forecast that future growth in
Europe will come from digital services, telecommunications, energy and
technology. Referring to banks, Almunia said that the EU was supporting
Greek government's efforts but it was also monitoring to see whether
the big financial help offered to banks would be distributed to the
real economy.
Greek Finance Minister Yiannis Stournaras, addressing the conference said
the EU was very near a banking union that will guarantee the credibility
of the banking system in Europe and noted that Greece has achieved to be
very close to exiting the crisis. "From very high deficits we achieved
surpluses. Now we must focus on creating a new model of growth, focusing
on technology and export as the average income has fallen by 30 pct
since the beginning of the crisis," Stournaras said, adding that "through
competitiveness we must achieve more in reducing domestic prices".
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