Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 16-12-21

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

CONTENTS

[01] Tsipras: Elections will be held in September 2019

[02] EU court rules Greek law limiting mass layoffs is vague and violates EU law

[03] Bank of Greece reports current account deficit of 198 mln euro in Oct

[01] Tsipras: Elections will be held in September 2019

"We are at the beginning of the government's 4-year term," Tsipras noted.

"Elections will be held in September 2019," the prime minister underlined. "Two targets will have been met by then," he said. These will be the exit from the supervision programmes in the middle of our term and the great vision of the country's productive reconstruction, he added.

[02] EU court rules Greek law limiting mass layoffs is vague and violates EU law

The case was brought to the European Court of Justice after Greek cement maker AGET Iraklis was prevented in 2013 from making collective redundancies by the then-government because of the economic crisis and the high levels of unemployment in the country.

The court ruled that the Greek law goes against EU rules on companies' freedom to set up businesses in EU states.

"The Greek legislation is liable to constitute a serious obstacle to the exercise of freedom of establishment in Greece," a note from the court said.

The judges recognized that a government is entitled to block mass layoffs "in certain circumstances in the interests of the protection of workers and of employment," but the Greek law was too vague and gave the authorities excessive discretion "beyond what is necessary."

More specifically, its said that the fact that Greece was suffering an economic crisis and high unemployment are not enough to block mass layoffs.

[03] Bank of Greece reports current account deficit of 198 mln euro in Oct

The deficit of the balance of goods recorded a small increase, as the improvement in the balance of goods excluding oil was offset by higher net oil imports. Non-oil exports rose year-on-year, by 2% and 3.8% at current and constant prices, respectively. Moreover, it should be noted that in October receipts from sales of ships increased significantly year-on-year.

The surplus of the services balance rose by €75 million as a result of an improvement in the travel balance. In particular, in October non-residents' arrivals rose by 17.3% and the corresponding receipts by 14.2%.

In the January-October 2016 period, the current account showed a surplus of €1.2 billion, down by €919 million year-on-year. In particular, the lower deficit of the balance of goods did not offset a decline in the surplus of the services balance, which resulted in a deterioration in the overall balance of goods and services. Moreover, the primary income account deteriorated, while the secondary income account improved.

The balance of goods showed an amelioration of €729 million, which reflects the improved oil balance and reduced net payments for purchases of ships. By contrast, the deficit of the balance of goods excluding oil and ships grew, chiefly on account of an increase in the value of imports, while the value of the corresponding exports remained almost unchanged. It should be noted that, at constant prices, total exports of goods rose by 7.2%, reflecting mainly a rise in the volume of oil exports, while non-oil exports of goods also grew by 3%.

The surplus of the services balance dropped by €1.7 billion year-on-year, mainly due to a significant decline in net transport receipts, which is largely attributable to capital controls. Net travel receipts also recorded a fall. Total non-residents' arrivals increased by 4.7%, while the corresponding receipts declined by 4.2%. These developments were offset to a small extent by an improvement in the other services balance.

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