Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 02-12-28

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From: The Macedonian Press Agency at http://www.mpa.gr and http://www.hri.org/MPA.

CONTENTS

[01] FINANCIAL CONSEQUENCES OF WAR IN IRAQ ON GREECE

[01] FINANCIAL CONSEQUENCES OF WAR IN IRAQ ON GREECE

Possible scenarios of the consequences a war in Iraq would have on Greece and measures to deal with them, are being studied by the leadership of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, throwing all the weight on the fronts of controlling inflation, observing the budget and promoting structural changes.

Specifically, the government's financial staff is concerned with the course of inflation, due to the increasing price of oil in combination with the bad weather, which may effect the price of agricultural products.

In a worst case scenario, in which the war would last for months or would cause a significant rise in oil prices, nothing can be taken for granted both concerning the Greek economy, and that of the Eurozone, stressed high ranking officials of the Ministry of Finance, according to a Flash.gr publication.

In such a case, the same officials are preparing for a further cutback in labor costs, and abandoning the 3.8% growth rate goal.

In fact, they did not hesitate to stress that even a 3% growth rate is being optimistic if the war lasts months or if Iraqi oil wells are struck, and if, at the same time, the euro retains its dominance towards the dollar, or if Latin America and Japan are not able to overcome their problems.

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