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Saturday, 21 December 2024 | ||
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Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 16-06-16Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>CONTENTS
[01] First review of Greek programme essentially concluded, Tsakalotos saysThe European Stability Mechanism (ESM) governors' decision to approve the disbursement of a 7.5-billion-euro loan tranche to Greece essentially marks the conclusion of the first review of Greece's programme, Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos said in Luxembourg on Thursday, in an exclusive statement to the ANA-MPA. On Friday, ESM directors will simply formally ratify this decision, he added.In his meeting with European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs Pierre Moscovici, Tsakalotos said that a lot has changed since last year, since the recapitalisation of Greece's banks had been completed, the first review of the programme concluded and there was now an agreement on Greece's debt. "I appreciate that for many Greeks things are still very difficult, since we passed a lot of difficult measures," Tsakalotos said. "I feel a need to say that the next year must not just be the year when we exit the crisis through growth but a time when we place emphasis on the qualitative aspects of this growth." The finance minister said that emphasis will be given to issues relating to justice, labour relations and the environment, noting that the growth achieved in Greece must be of a different kind to that seen before 2008, which resulted in crisis. "It must be growth based on a completely different model," Tsakalotos said, noting that for a government of the Left such a model must respect workers and ensure that goods will be distributed among the many. Ending his statement, Tsakalotos said that he told Moscovici that Greeks looks forward to cooperation "but with a different agenda for the future". [02] Greek loan tranche to be disbursed early next weekBRUSSELS (ANA-MPA/M. Aroni) – The disbursement of Greece's 7.5-billion-euro tranche is expected to be made at the start of the next week, the head of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) Klaus Regling said during a press conference in Luxembourg, which followed the fourth annual meeting of ESM's board of governors on Thursday.Speaking at the same press conference, Eurogroup president Jeroen Dijsselbloem confirmed that the updated MoU between Greece and the Mechanism was approved by the board. The decision will be officially announced by the ESM on Friday morning, he added. Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |