Athens News Agency: News in English (PM), 98-03-16
NEWS IN ENGLISH
Athens, Greece, 16/03/1998 (ANA)
MAIN HEADLINES
- Government confident about drachma
- PM: No more devaluations
- Stocks jump 7.31 pct on devaluation
- Finance ministry stricter on price checks
- Bond auction postponed
- Athens welcomes decision on Cyprus
- Two confess to foreigners' double murder
- More police patrols decided to offset crime wave
- Maltese ship runs aground
- Four die in road accidents
- Weather
- Foreign Exchange
NEWS IN DETAIL
Government confident about drachma
Developments today on the money markets in the wake of the drachma's
devaluation over the weekend have left the government confident that the
drachma's entry to the (ERM) is going well, a spokesman said today.
"It's going well but we want it to go better," acting spokesman Nikos
Athanasakis said.
Athanasakis said that the government and Prime Minister Costas Simitis's
credibility was intact and that "(the government's) policy is leading us
safely to inclusion in the single monetary system".
"The hard drachma policy was not mistaken nor a failure ...It was this
policy which allowed us to take the next big step, that of inclusion in the
European currency exchange rate mechanism. For us to take this step, we had
to meet some prerequisites, such as lower inflation, beforehand,"
Athanasakis said.
Both Simitis and Papantoniou "told the Greek people the truth", he
said.
Athanasakis rejected outright any talk of the drachma leaving or being
forced out of the ERM, saying there was "no fear or prospect" of such an
occurence.
He criticised main opposition New Democracy for its objections to the
government's move on Saturday to include the drachma in the ERM, thus
precipitating a 13.8 percent devaluation in the national currency.
He admitted that the move would have an adverse effect on some sectors of
the economy, as well as providing a boost to others.
"Inflation will go up in the short-term but by the end of the year it will
be below 2.5 percent," he said. He refused to predict year-on-year
inflation figures for March.
The government will not propose any increase in the percentage of public
utilities and companies to be sold on the stock market above the current
ceiling of 49 percent, he added. It will propose wage increases of 2.5
percent in collective bargaining.
He added that a one billion dollar loan contracted shortly before the
drachma's entry to the ERM was part of a foreign borrowing program and
would be paid off at parities prevailing at the time of the loan agreement.
PM: no more devaluations
Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis said that the drachma, devalued by 14
percent to allow entry into the European Union's exchange rate mechanism,
would not undergo a fresh devaluation in the near future.
"Today's (drachma) parity, which was decided on Saturday, is the parity
with which Greece will take part in European Monetary Union (in 2001),"
Prime Minister Costas Simitis said.
"(Members of the ERM) want the mechanism to be stable and remain unshaken
... They would never allow entry for a currency whose economy could not
ensure stability," said Simitis, replying to a reporter's question.
Simitis, who was speaking after a meeting in Prague with his Czech
counterpart Josef Tosovsky, said the drachma entry into the ERM was a key
step towards the country's participation in EMU.
He said the month-long entry negotiations had focused on setting a parity
that would not jeopardise the drachma's stability.
Stocks jump 7.31 pct on devaluation
The market cast a vote of confidence in the government's moves on the
drachma, its entry into the European Exchange Rate Mechanism and new fiscal
measures announced by National Economy and Finance Minister Yiannos
Papantoniou over the weekend, in the first trading session of the
week.
Most Greek equities hit the day's upper volatility limit, to end 7.31
percent higher. The general index closed at 1,649.69 points while trading
was extremely heavy with turnover at 41.1 billion drachmas.
Investors were also encouraged by the prospect of higher exports and
speedier flotation of public utilities in the market.
Sector indices rose sharply. Banks soared 7.57 percent, Insurance was 4.80
percent up, Leasing increased 6.56 percent, Investment rose 6.63 percent,
Construction ended 4.48 percent higher, Industrials shot up 7.45 percent,
Miscellaneous ended 3.71 percent up and Holding was 7.96 percent higher.
The parallel market index for small cap companies rose 3.60 percent while
the FTSE/ASE index jumped 7.78 percent to 934.23 points.
Broadly, advancers led decliners by 222 to 27 with another 9 issues
unchanged.
Blue-chip stocks led the rally hitting the day's 8.0 percent upper
volatility limit. National Bank of Greece ended at 24,591 drachmas, Alpha
Credit Bank at 18,365, Ergobank at 17,010, Hellenic Telecommunications
Organisation at 7,290, Titan Cement at 15,822 and Intracom at 16,848.
Sarandis, Sarandopoulos, Europaiki Techniki, Fourlis and Balkan Export
suffered the heaviest losses.
Finance ministry stricter on price checks
The special police squad recently set up to combat financial crimes and
commerce ministry inspectors will be intensifying market checks to prevent
profiteering following a 14 percent devaluation of the drachma at the
weekend.
Clear instructions to this effect have already been given by the coordinating
committee formed by the government to check on prices and ensure the smooth
operation of the market in general.
The committee met this morning, chaired by National Economy and Finance
Minister Yiannos Papantoniou. Also taking part were Finance Undersecretary
George Drys, Commerce Undersecretary Michalis Chrysochoidis, the Secretary
General of the National Statistics Service Nikos Karavitis and other
officials.
After the meeting, Papantoniou advised the business world and traders to
exercise self-restraint and urged them not to "pass on" the consequences of
the devaluation to prices.
Papantoniou expressed the view that repercussions for the market would be
small and short-lived. Those guilty of profiteering, he warned, would face
extremely harsh penalties.
Commenting on the first visible effects of devaluation, Papantoniou said
the increase in the volume of trading at the Athens Stock Exchange this
morning was very encouraging.
He added that international markets had responded with enthusiasm to the
devaluation of the drachma and its entry to the European Union's exchange
rate mechanism (ERM).
Papantoniou advised cool-headedness all round "so that we can enjoy the
benefits of the drachma's entry to the ERM".
Bond auction postponed
The Finance Ministry announced a postponement in the auction of state bonds
and treasury bills planned for today. It said a postponement of a few days
was necessary following the drachma's devaluation and entry into the EU
exchange rate mechanism over the weekend and adaptation of the markets to
the new state of affairs. A new date will be announced soon.
Athens welcomes decision on Cyprus
The government today welcomed the decision of the informal meeting of
European Union foreign ministers in Edinburgh at the weekend confirming the
commencement of negotiations for Cyprus' accession as scheduled on March
31.
Government spokesman Nikos Athanasakis described as "positive and generous"
the proposal by Cyprus President Glafcos Clerides inviting the Turkish
Cypriots to participate in the Cyprus accession negotiating team.
He expressed the hope that the Turkish Cypriots and Ankara would now
abandon their intransigence, stressing that Cyprus' accession would also
benefit the Turkish Cypriots.
Two confess to foreigners' double murder
Two Albanians have confessed to last week's murder of a British couple on
the Greek island of Cephalonia, police said today.
Roy Eccles, 53, a retired electrical engineer and his wife Judith, 49, a
retired accountant, were found knifed to death in the village of Kaminarata
on March 12.
Police said Lambro Papas, a 26-year-old labouror from Sarande, and 20-year-
old labouror Eduard Eimazi or Elmazi from Avlon, who were arrested over the
weekend, had confessed to the killing.
The two told police that Papas, armed with a large knife, and Elmazi
holding a rake, had been staking out the couple's home on the night of
March 11 from an abandoned building across the street, and broke into the
Eccles residence by breaking the window of the sliding glass balcony door
after the couple had gone to sleep.
The Albanians said they stabbed the Britons repeatedly after the couple
woke up from the noise, and then they combed the house for money and credit
cards before making off with the Eccles' car.
They abandoned the car in the town of Sami, intending to take a ship to
Patras and then Italy, but changed their minds en route and went to Athens
instead, where they arrived on March 12. The next day, they went to the
island of Lefkada, where they were traced by police and arrested.
More police patrols decided to offset crime wave
Public Order Minister George Romeos today chaired a meeting of senior
police officers to discuss the increasing crime rate and the contribution
to it of foreigners.
Romeos said the criminal activity of foreigners had increased and the
police had not responded in the best possible way, with only small numbers
of officers patrolling at night.
It was decided at the meeting to step up police patrols, particularly at
night, by putting officers normally with desk duties on the streets.
Romeos said the increased police presence would soon be apparent to
all.
Maltese ship runs aground
A Maltese-flag freighter has run aground due to galeforce winds in the
shallows off the islet of Aghios Constantinos near the Gulf of Itea,
Merchant Marine sources said today.
They said the freighter, the "Florence", was anchored south of the port of
Itea when strong winds dragged it into the shallows late last night.
The sources said the 26-member crew, four of them Greeks, were all safe,
and awaiting a tugboat from Patras to refloat the ship.
In another incident, the Greek car ferry "Mykonos II" ran aground in sandy
shallows this morning as it was trying to dock at Rafina harbour in strong
northeasterly winds.
The ferry, which had arrived from Limnos and Skyros islands, was transporting
13 unloaded trucks, and its crew were all safe, ministry sources said.
Tugboats were trying to refloat the ferry.
Meanwhile, the Merchant Marine Ministry banned all ferry sailings from the
port of Piraeus to the islands of the Aegean, Crete and the Dodecanese due
to gale-force winds and forecasts of a further deterioration in weather
conditions.
Four die in road accidents
Two people died and a third injured in a car accident early this morning on
the Pounta-Kalavryta road in the northern Peloponnese.
One of the dead was identified as Christos Seferlis, 55, a businessman from
Patras who ran a nightclub in Kalavryta. Also dead was a woman identified
only as Vanessa.
Another woman, as yet unidentified, was injured and is being treated in
hospital in Kalavryta.
All three were in a car, being driven by Seferlis, which for unknown
reasons went off the road and fell 300 metres into a gorge. Initial reports
say icy patches on the road may have been responsible.
It took police and mountaineers hours to recover the two bodies and the
injured woman from the gorge.
Two more people died and two were slightly injured when two trucks collided
late last night on the Kozani-Ioannina road in northern Greece.
The driver of one truck, Nikolaos Kantonas, 22 and a passenger, Thomas
Karamichalis, 19 both died, while the driver of the second truck, Ioannis
Karamitsopoulos, 23 and a passenger, Dimitris Goulopoulos, 23 were
injured.
Kozani police are conducting an investigation into the cause of the
crash.
WEATHER
Local storms are forecast for Monday in the Cyclades and Dodecanese islands
and Crete, while rain and sleet are expected in Thessaly, central Greece,
Evia, the Peloponnese and the Aegean Sea islands. In Athens, cloud and rain
or sleet are expected in the northern and eastern parts with snow in the
surrounding mountains and temperatures ranging from 4-8 C. In Thessaloniki,
partly cloudy with slight possibility of light snowfall and temperatures
from 2-5C.
FOREIGN EXCHANGE
Monday's closing rates (buying) are as follows:
U.S. dollar 320.208 British pound 543.470
Japanese Yen(100)246.829 French franc 52.413
German mark 175.772 Italian lira (100) 17.844
Irish Punt 442.015 Belgian franc 8.519
Finnish mark 57.899 Dutch guilder 155.888
Danish kr. 46.068 Austrian sch. 24.976
Spanish peseta 2.070 Swedish kr. 40.289
Norwegian kr. 42.200 Swiss franc 216.261
Port. Escudo 1.716 AU dollar 214.371
Can. dollar 226.652 Cyprus pound 603.096
(M.P.)
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