Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 14-09-17

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

CONTENTS

[01] Finance ministry: SYRIZA's plan for the economy 'wrong and unclear'

[02] SYRIZA leader Tsipras to be received by Pope Francis on Thursday

[03] Meeting on lowering milk prices at development ministry on Wednesday

[01] Finance ministry: SYRIZA's plan for the economy 'wrong and unclear'

The ministry's statement read, "Following a comprehensive review with services, it turns out that the immediate fiscal cost of the announcements which will burden the public debt - in the most conservative estimates and only for the first year - will exceed 17.2 billion euros (without taking into consideration the cost of cancelling private debts, which, if included, would raise the total to 17.2 billion euros) against the 9.362 billion euros that SYRIZA claims (11.362 billion euros total cost, minus 2 billion euros for the cancellation of private debts)."

The 17.2 billion euros "would increase the country's deficit by about 9 percentage points of the GDP, compared to the 1.5% surplus of today, leading the country back into a fiscal crisis," it added.

In conclusion, it said, SYRIZA's proposal for exiting the crisis is based on the wrong recipe and overturns the effort to stabilise the economy. It does not resolve problems, while it creates new ones. It leads to a loss of credibility, either to a new loan with high cost or to a new taxation of the middle class, the downturn of the financial system, the fleeing of capital from Greece and a rift with our partners."

[02] SYRIZA leader Tsipras to be received by Pope Francis on Thursday

According to Avgi newspaper, Tsipras, accompanied by the party's spokesman Panos Skourletis, will be received by the Pope on Thursday morning. Their discussion will focus on issues related to poverty, migration and the environment.

The meeting is considered a "historical" one, as no other leftist leader has ever before been received by the head of the Roman Catholic church.

[03] Meeting on lowering milk prices at development ministry on Wednesday

During the meeting, scheduled to begin at 14:00, the minister hopes to reach agreement on a 5 pct reduction, sources at the ministry said. The government also expects that a decision by FrieslandCampina Hellas to cut the price of one of its milk products by 0.05 euros from September 22 will exert pressure on other dairy companies to follow suit.

Dairy industry sources, on their part, said that the new legislation extending shelf-life for milk products has not lowered the cost of returns as expected.

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