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| Europe |
| Greece ready for new measures to save economy |
| 2010-03-04 |
| [Iran Press TV Latest] Greece has launched a fresh round of economic measures in a bid to pave the way for crucial support by Europe. Some of new measures taken by the Socialist government are increased sales, imposing taxes on tobacco and alcohol and cutting public sector holiday allowances to save 4.8 billion euros (6.5 billion dollars), equal to about two percent of gross domestic product (GDP). Pensions in the public and private sectors were also frozen. Alongside the new austerity measures, the speaker of the Greek parliament Philippos Petsalnikos also announced the creation of a "support fund" to which citizens could contribute to help the country out of its crisis, AFP reported on Wednesday. "These decisions are necessary for the survival of the country and the economy," Prime Minister George Papandreou said. Papandreou will travel to Berlin and Paris later this week for talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Analysts say that France and Germany are likely to offer some kind of support, with various reports of possible credit guarantees, bilateral loans and agreements with state-owned European banks to buy Greek bonds. Greece's borrowing costs shot up late last year when it was hit with a triple downgrade by credit agencies after revealing that its official budget deficit figures had been grossly under-reported. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 See also BHARAT RAKSHAK > GREECE NOW, THE UK IS NEXT AS SCOTS PREPARE FOR POUND PLUNGE. * SAME > ADP SAYS US COMPANIES CUT 20,000 JOBS IN FEBRUARY. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2010-03-04 02:01 |
| #1 Merkel has just said no bailout for Greece. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2010-03-04 00:45 |