Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 17-05-04

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

CONTENTS

[01] Moody's says agreement with creditors paves way for Greek debt relief

[02] Court rules against extradition of Turkish military officers

[01] Moody's says agreement with creditors paves way for Greek debt relief

The credit rating firm said the basic positive of the agreement is that it would likely lead to further debt relief measures in the official sector, making the country's debt more sustainable. The agreement is expected to lead to a conclusion of the second review of the Greek program, a precondition for disbursing a loan tranche of around 8.0 billion euros to Greece, allowing the country to pay large debt repayment in July.

Moody's also said that completion of a second review was also likely to pave the way for inclusion of Greek bonds in a QE program of the European Central Bank, offering additional support to regain access to capital markets and improving climate for domestic depositors.

Moody's said that a main issue of disagreement between European creditors and the IMF was the height of primary fiscal surpluses that Greece could maintain for several years. "The Greek government managed to surpass expectations achieving a primary surplus of around 4.0 pct of GDP. However, we doubt (along with IMF) that Greece can preserve large surpluses for a long period of time. On the contrary, we expect primary surpluses of around 2.5 pct of GDP this year and next year, which mean a total fiscal deficit of 0.5-1.0 pct of GDP. Given the negative consequences to growth from a dealy in concluding the second review, we expect a growth rate of 1.5 pct this year, down from a European Commission forecast for a 2.7 pct growth rate," Moody's said.

[02] Court rules against extradition of Turkish military officers

The court ruled that the two officers will be not extradited and ordered their release. A court has already ruled against the extradition of the other five Turkish officials.

Turkey has requested the extradition of all eight officers so that they can be tried before a Turkish court.

The Turkish military officers have sought political asylum in Greece and are currently being held at the Olympic Village police station while they wait for the asylum service's decision on their request.

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