Antonis Samaras

Reforms push Greece to economic recovery

The costs are high, but the government has stuck to implementing the required steps.

The government of Prime Minister Antonis Samaras floated a sovereign bond for the first time since the economic crisis began in 2010. [AFP]

By Jesse Westbrook, Eshe Nelson & Nikos Chrysoloras

Shut out of international bond markets for four years, Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras wasn’t going to take any chances with his country’s return.

Greek state debt surged to the highest in the euro era last year, underscoring the urgency of Prime Minister Antonis Samaras’s push to lower the cost of the government’s bailout loans.

Greece met the budget goal set by its euro-area partners as a condition for talks on further debt relief.

The government of Prime Minister Antonis Samaras recorded a primary budget surplus, which excludes interest payments, of 1.5 billion euros ($2.1 billion) last year, the European Commission said on Wednesday.

Greece is set to ask its eurozone partners when the Eurogroup meets on May 5 for permission to gradually reduce corporation tax rates as part of a wider plan to generate growth in Greece, Kathimerini understands.

Greece moves to tighten prison furloughs

Terrorism convicts will face a 20-year wait for the opportunity to be conditionally released, according to a newly proposed law.

The Korydallos high-security prison in the outskirts of Athens has experienced a series of security breakdowns. [AFP]

By Chryssa Liaggou

French energy giant Electricite de France (EDF) expressed last week its interest in the privatization of Greece’s Public Power Corporation (PPC), just as the government is poised to sell off part of the electricity company under a scheme dubbed “Small PPC.”

The European Commission’s statistical arm, Eurostat is expected to confirm on Wednesday the size of Greece’s 2013 primary budget surplus, which the government hopes will further boost its argument that it made the right decision to stick with the fiscal adjustment program agreed with the eurozone and International Monetary Fund.

By Alexis Papachelas