Athens News Agency: News in English, 06-09-14

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

CONTENTS

[01] Premier briefs President on course of Greek economy

[02] Greek, Albanian education ministers meet

[03] Greece welcomes IMF forecasts on economy

[01] Premier briefs President on course of Greek economy

Karamanlis also underlined the government's determination to press ahead with reforms in all sectors, such as the economy, public administration, education and health.

"We are on the right track and it is time to get away from the pathogenies and the problems of the past," the premier said in statements to reporters.

The prime minister said that he had briefed the president on the course of the Greek economy, with a detailed account of events at the Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF), the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) on Monday in Helsinki and the trilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov regarding the construction of the Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline.

Karamanlis underlined the importance of the oil pipeline, pointing out that Papoulias himself had worked hard on the realisation of the project when he was foreign minister. During their talks before TV crews and journalists, the two men referred to it at length and the President also stressed its importance.

[02] Greek, Albanian education ministers meet

At the end of the meeting, Yiannakou said said they discussed issues concerning cooperation on a level of higher education, the implementation of the educational agreement, which the two sides wish to renew, the matter of the Greek minority's education in Albania and in general, matters related to private schools which are bilingual, Greek and Albanian.

The Greek minister said she will visit Albania soon.

On his part, Genc Polo noted that Yiannakou has helped the children of Albanian immigrants living in Greece, adding that the two countries have "an ancient common history and a friendly atmosphere, which we want to continue."

[03] Greece welcomes IMF forecasts on economy

Commenting on the International Monetary Fund's forecast, the Greek minister said the government was strictly implementing its economic programme and noted it was significant that the IMF has revised upwards its forecast for the Greek economy. "Our efforts will continue to achieve a goal of a balanced budged by 2012 and sooner if possible," Alogoskoufis said.

The IMF, in its semi-annual World Economic Outlook report presented in Singapore, forecasts that the Greek economy would grow by 3.7 pct this year (raising a previous forecast of a 3.3 pct growth rate) and by 3.5 percent in 2007 (up from 3.2 pct). GDP growth was 3.7 pct in 2005. The unemployment rate is expected to fall to 9.7 pt this year, from 9.9 pct in 2005 and to 9.5 pct in 2007, while the inflation rate is expected to rise to 3.6 pct this year from 3.5 pct in 2005 and to ease again to 3.5 pct in 2007.

Alogoskoufis said that government policies to make a more efficient use of Olympic Games' sports facilities was already "bearing fruit", adding that three tenders were currently under completion while another six sports facilities would be transformed.

The Phaliro facility would be transform into a conference centre, the Phaliro marina would be offered to a sailing club, while an area of 54 stremmata (one stremma=1,000 sq.m) would be given to the Phaliro municipality. The Greek minister said that the Pancretion stadium in Heraclio, Crete, would be transformed into an entertainment centre.

Alogoskoufis said that Olympic sports facilities would remain under the ownership of the state while Olympic Real Estate SA would continue to operate as a manager of all sports facilities. He noted that the state has signed three lease contracts, worth 11 million euros, while he stressed that after completion of tendering procedures, the state would save around 55 million euros from cleaning and security expenses.

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