Latest News from Greece
Most sectors suffered big losses in 2013
According to figures from ICAP?s annual ?Greece in Numbers? survey that Kathimerini has seen, Greek businesses suffered another loss-making year in 2013 as the nine biggest sectors (excluding banks) were hit with pretax losses of 850 million euros, although this was a far cry from the 2.63 billion euros in losses generated in 2012.
Next Monday is D-Day for state funds
March 30 is the date when liquidity reserves will turn negative unless some money comes from Europe
By Sotiris Nikas
Greece faces EU fine over hazardous waste
The European Commission has asked the European Court of Justice to fine Greece for its failure to manage hazardous waste.
Previously convicted by the court in 1999 for failing to comply with the EU?s landfill directive, Greece could pay 17.7 million euros in fines, plus a daily penalty of 8,096 euros until it solves the problem.
PM's next task to convince party about reform list to be sent to lenders
Returning from his official visit to Germany, one of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras?s main tasks will be to ensure his party?s support for the reform list his government is compiling and preparing to send to lenders, possibly by the end of the week.
Tsipras Berlin trip ends with Greek-German relations on better footing
The feeling that there has been a thaw in the frosty relations between Greece and Germany was strengthened on Tuesday when Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras rounded off his trip to Berlin by holding meetings with Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel and the leaders of two opposition parties.
No plans to seize German assets over WWII claims, says justice minister
Justice Minister Nikos Paraskevopoulos denied on Tuesday the government was planning to seize German assets as compensation for a Nazi atrocities during World War II.
?No Greek citizen would want the confiscation of a historic educational/cultural institute like the Goethe [Institute in Athens],? Paraskevopoulos said in a statement.
Banks set aside unprecedented provisions to tackle bad loans
By Yiannis Papadoyiannis
Greece?s main banks have set aside huge provisions in recent years ? totaling 50 billion euros ? to tackle the problem of nonperforming loans (NPLs). The bulk concern Greece and cover some 60 percent of the loans that are definitively in default.
Greek bonds buck trend among peripheral yields
Greece?s yields declined on Tuesday as European officials prepared to assess the country?s third set of economic policy proposals.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras at a meeting on Monday to do what is needed to qualify for another tranche of financial aid.
Stocks rise as cash crunch fears subside
A second day of significant gains for local stocks on Tuesday suggested that investors are fostering fresh hopes that Greece?s creditors have softened their stance and the country will see its cash crunch ease in the coming days, averting a feared default. Turnover dropped below 100 million euros again.
Greek road deaths down 37 pct since 2010
Greece saw the European Union?s biggest decline in the number of road deaths per 1 million inhabitants between 2010 and 2014, according to data made public on Tuesday by the European Commission.
Road deaths fell by 37 percent to 72 per million inhabitants last year, compared to 2010.
The average decline in the EU during this period was 18 percent.
German foreign minister hails 'improved tone' in Greek ties
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier welcomed an improved tone in discussions with debt-mired Greece, after meeting visiting Greek premier Alexis Tsipras Tuesday.
Greece said to run out of cash by April 20 without fresh aid
Greece will run out of money by April 20 unless it receives fresh aid from creditors, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday.
Athens is scrambling to send a list of planned reforms to its European lenders in the coming days in the hope of unlocking fresh aid and averting bankruptcy.
Tsipras expresses his deepest condolences to Merkel and Rajoy (video)
The Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras expressed from Berlin his sincere condolences for the fatal aircraft crash in southern France.
FT: ECB wants to ban T-bill purchases by Greek banks
Financial Times on Tuesday reported that the European Central Bank is considering a ban on the purchase of short-term Greek state debt by Greece’s systemic banks, a move that effectively cuts off a key source of financing for an already cash-strapped Athens.
Budget primary surplus at 1.23 bln euros in Jan.-Feb,
Greece’s closely monitored budget showed a deficit of 194 million euros in the first two months of 2015, a reversal from a surplus of 487 million euros in the corresponding period last year.
The slide in the state’s finances is attributed directly to political uncertainty in the country before and after the Jan. 25 election.