Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 17-04-20

Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

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

CONTENTS

[01] ANA, Xinhua sign cooperation agreement

[02] Alternate FM Katrougalos reassures programme review will be concluded in May

[03] Greek current account deficit down in Jan-Feb

[04] NGOs financing to be discussed in Parliament over the next days, Justice Min Kontonis says

[05] Attiki Natural Gas Distribution Company launches gas heating financing programme

[06] Greek industrial turnover index up 20.9 pct in Feb

[01] ANA, Xinhua sign cooperation agreement

Digital Policy Minister Nikos Pappas underlined that the signing of the agreement marks the strengthening of the relations between the countries.

"As a country of the West, Greece will show China what is really happening," Pappas noted and added that the Chinese leadership is aware of Greece's role as a stability factor in the wider region of the southeastern Europe. As he said, Greece wants to cooperate with countries with the same spirit. Moreover, he wished to see stabilization in the wider region as this will open up economic development prospects, and China is aware of that.

On his part, the president of the Chinese News Agency Cai Mingzhao said that Greece and China are two countries with a long-term friendship. There is a long-term co-operation that is warmly welcomed in both countries and this will be confirmed by the signing of a cooperation agreement between the two agencies, which will further enhance their cooperation.

The president and managing director of ANA Michalis Psilos expressed his certainty that the strengthening of the cooperation will contribute to bringing the two peoples even closer.

[02] Alternate FM Katrougalos reassures programme review will be concluded in May

He also reassured that there will be no further measures in 2017 and 2018.

"I believe that the programme review will have been concluded in May. The political part is granted. It is only the technical part that remains to be settled," he explained.

As for the Malta agreement, he said that it is positive because it provides for no extra measures in 2017 and 2018 so the economy can restart. "What is important is to put an end to austerity, return to positive growth rates, increase employment and share the benefits of the growth instead of the burden of the crisis.

Katrougalos reassured that the measures will pass in Parliament because this is the best possible compromise, the most honest compromise.

[03] Greek current account deficit down in Jan-Feb

The deficit of the balance of goods increased year-on-year, mainly as a result of a rise in the deficit of the oil balance, owing to higher international oil prices. By contrast, the non-oil balance of goods improved. However, it should be noted that non-oil exports of goods declined by 1.8% at constant prices and the corresponding imports by 1.2%.

The surplus of the services balance expanded by €158 million year-on-year, as a result of the improved travel and other services balance, while net transport receipts decreased slightly. More specifically, travel receipts fell by 3.1%, in spite of a 2.6% rise in arrivals. The improvement in the travel balance is due to the fact that the decline in spending by residents travelling abroad was larger than the decline in spending by non-residents travelling in Greece.

In February 2017, the primary income account showed a surplus of €261 million, down by €146 million year-on-year, mainly as a result of a decline in net receipts under other primary income, which includes taxes and subsidies on products and production. The secondary income account showed a surplus of €115 million, up by €69 million year-on-year, mainly due to the improved balance of the general government sector.

In the January-February 2017 period, the current account improved by €392 million year-on-year and stood at €1.2 billion. This improvement is attributable to increased surpluses in the services balance, the primary income and the secondary income accounts. By contrast, the deficit of the balance of goods rose. The overall balance of goods and services recorded a deficit of €2.4 billion, up by €259 million year-on-year, as a rise in the services surplus was more than offset by an increase in the goods deficit.

The deficit of the balance of goods increased in the above mentioned period compared with the January-February 2016 period, mainly as a result of a rise in the deficit of the oil balance. Increases were also recorded in the deficit of the balance of goods excluding oil. Specifically, exports of goods excluding oil grew by 2.5% at constant prices and the corresponding imports by 5.4%.

The surplus of the services balance expanded by €253 million compared with the January-February 2016 period, reflecting improvements in all of its main components. Travel receipts fell by 2.7%, in spite of a 7.9% rise in non-residents' arrivals.

In the January-February 2017 period, the primary and secondary income accounts improved year-on-year.

[04] NGOs financing to be discussed in Parliament over the next days, Justice Min Kontonis says

He underlined that "this government will not cover up the issue" adding that it will be discussed in Parliament over the next 15-20 days.

Kontonis noted that there are NGOs with the same registered seat, and this proves that a network has been set up that wastes public money.

[05] Attiki Natural Gas Distribution Company launches gas heating financing programme

Grant amounts range from 750 euros to 3,000 euros. The total budget of the programme is 4.7 million euros.

The submission of bids started on Monday, April 3.

The subsidy applies to all residences that are "active", ie inhabited, and use other heating methods.

[06] Greek industrial turnover index up 20.9 pct in Feb

The statistics service, in a monthly report, said this development was the result of a 10.6 pct increase in the mining turnover index and a 21.1 pct rise in the manufacturing turnover index. The domestic market turnover index rose 17.3 pct and the external market index was up 25.8 pct. The general index rose 6.5 pct in February from January 2017.

Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article