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Thursday, 08 June 2017

ECB lowers ELA cap for Greek banks by 1.1 bln euros

The European Central Bank on Thursday lowered its Emergency Liquidity Assistance (ELA) cap on the amount that Greek banks can draw from the Bank of Greece (BoG) by 1.1 billion…

Mitsotakis blasts proposed higher eduction changes as return to 1982

A controversial draft bill on higher education attracted shrill criticism by the opposition in Greece this week, as two of the “highlights” in the legislation essentially restore a blanket university…

Govt to bring another round of ‘prior actions’ to Parliament; hours after ‘non paper’ denial

A draft amendment will be tabled in Parliament on Friday morning that includes the remaining “prior actions” demanded by Greece’s creditors in order to finally conclude the utterly delayed second…

EWG’s Wieser: Almost certain deal at Eurogroup over review; IMF demands standing over Greek bailout

The head of the EuroWorking Group Thomas Wieser appeared absolutely confident over the prospects of a conclusion to the long-delayed review of the Greek program being achieved at the coming…

Athens presses for debt relief, now cites EU Summit on June 22; denies more prior actions pending

A return to the markets for Greece’s borrowing needs and a need to send international investors a “positive message” are the primary arguments now being circulated lined by the Greek…

Wednesday, 07 June 2017

Reuters: Govt sources say re-inclusion of Greek bonds in QE crucial for lowering borrow costs in potential return to market

A competing flurry of leaks and statements by nameless sources in Berlin and Athens, respectively, continued on Wednesday, with Reuters quoting Greek government sources as saying the country could return…

GEK Terna results for Q1 2017

The GEK Terna construction group on Wednesday announced quarterly consolidated sales of 262.4 million euros, down from 281.9 in the corresponding quarter of 2016. The group’s EBITDA reached 68.9 million…

Privatization fund announces e-auction sale/lease of real estate properties around Greece

Greece’s privatization fund (HRADF) on Wednesday announced an international tender for the commercial exploitation of a tract of land in northern Corfu, the well-known Ionian island destination. The property is…

Tsipras receives former US VP Joe Biden

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Wednesday received former US vice-president Joe Biden at the Maximos Mansion government house. Regional developments, the Cyprus issue, energy matters and bilateral Greek-US economic…

Shipping, oil tycoon Vardinogiannis: Motor Oil group steers clear of politics in country

By G. Kanoupakis [email protected] Motor Oil president Vardis Vardinogiannis, one of Greece’s most influential industrial and business leaders, on Thursday reiterated during a group shareholders’ meeting that the refinery and…

OECD revises Greek GDP growth forecast downwards; 1.1% for 2017, 2.5% for 2018

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on Wednesday was the latest international institution to lower its annual growth forecast for crisis-battered Greece, putting the figure for the current…

Spike in increase in Turkish visitors to Samos this spring

Turkish tourists to the eastern Aegean island of Samos increased dramatically in April and May 2017, compared to the corresponding period of 2016. Specifically, 2,093 Turkish nationals visited the island…

Six Greek protected designation food products on list in negotiations between EU, China

Six well-known Greek food products, which currently enjoy protected designation of origin (PDO) in Europe, are included in a list to be deliberated in negotiations as part of a bilateral…

BoG: Write-offs kept NPEs in check over Q1 2017; figure stands at 103.9 bln€

Uncertainty in tandem with expected benefits from the looming implementation of an out-of-court settlement framework for outstanding bank loans – itself a memorandum-mandated prior action – apparently increased the mountain…

Tuesday, 06 June 2017

Barroso: Grexit not off the table yet; certain quarters in Europe would pay for Greece to leave EZ

Grexit isn’t off the table and everything depends on Greece, former EU Commission president José Manuel Barroso said in Athens on Tuesday, while addressing the Concordia Summit’s European conference, which…

EWG teleconference called off; 10 out of 140 prior actions remaining to conclude Greek program

A Euro Working Group teleconference previously scheduled for Wednesday was called off on account of 10 out of 140 “prior actions” – which Athens must implement in order to conclude…

BoG announces figures for NPEs targets; total reaches 105 bln€

The Bank of Greece (BoG) on Tuesday unveiled targets for non-performing exposures (NPEs) in the country, while noting that the Olympus-sized “mountain” of exposures in the crisis-battered country fell by…

Groups representing Greek notaries to allow members to participate at auctions of property valued at above 300K€

Associations representing notaries in Greece on Tuesday announced that members will be allowed to legally participate in property auctions around the country, set for Wednesday, for foreclosed real estate objectively…

GDP growth in Q1 2017 marks major reversal from previous negative forecast

By T. Tsiros [email protected] Higher consumption in the first quarter of 2017, compared with the same period in 2016, along with an apparent spike in investments in the crisis-bedeviled country…

Monday, 05 June 2017

Greek embassy to represent Egyptian interests in Qatar

Greece’s embassy in Doha, Qatar will assume the diplomatic representation of Egypt in the Gulf country, the Greek foreign ministry announced on Monday. The announcement came after the Greek and…

Lagarde: IMF can remain in Greek bailout, but will resume lending once debt relief specified

IMF chief Christine Lagarde offered something of a compromise on Monday to overcome the current “tug-of-war” between the Fund and European creditors – primarily Germany – over the Greek bailout,…

Power utility union in Greece lauds Trump decision to exit climate change agreement

Donald Trump’s controversial decision last week to pull the United States out of the landmark Paris climate change agreement found an ally in Greece: the union representing workers of the…

Saturday, 03 June 2017

21 female uteruses discovered in trash bags outside Athens train station

Police in Athens are investigating a grisly case involving the discovery of 21 female uteruses left in two plastic bags near the city’s main train station.  An anonymous caller notified…

Friday, 02 June 2017

Berlin ‘leaks’ on Greek debt issue unabated; Reuters: FinMin paper cites 123bln€ price for payment delays until 2048

Reuters circulated a report on Friday afternoon citing what it called a German finance ministry calculation holding that a rescheduling of interest payments on Greek bailout loans until 2048 will…

Third country nationals evacuated from old Athens airport to other refugee camps

Greek authorities on Friday completed the evacuation of nearly 400 foreign nationals who had been temporarily hosted at disused facilities at the one-time Athens airport, located at the coastal Helleniko…

Head of Greek shipowners’ union: Schaeuble criticism unfair; Germany has favorable tax regime, too

The head of Greece’s influential shipowners’ union on Friday said this week’s high-profile criticism by German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, who claimed the iconic sector did not contribute its fair…

PwC: Greece needs 268 bln€ by 2020 in investment capital; 155 bln€ missing

PwC this week said Greece needs a whopping 268 billion euros in capital by 2020 to fund all types of investment in business, infrastructure, property purchases and the agricultural sector.…

Prospect of EZ summit for ‘political solution’ circulated in Athens, as debt relief possibility at Eurogroup dims

The increasingly beleaguered Tsipras government is now reportedly looking towards the prospect of a summit of Euro zone countries, in the wake of a widely reported statement – quoting an…

Greek GDP up by 0.4% in Q1 2017

The Greek economy returned to growth in the first quarter of 2017, by 0.4 percent, overturning a recently revised forecast which pointed to a 0.5-percent downturn, on an annualized basis.…

Delayed review taking its toll on Greece’s ‘real economy’

By T. Tsiros [email protected] What was billed as a year of economic recovery, with institutions’ forecasts reaching up to 2.7 percent of GDP growth in 2017, has gone off track…