Economy of Greece

Passenger traffic at the 14 largest airports outside of Athens - operated by Fraport Greece - showed a slight decrease in the first quarter of this year compared to the corresponding period in 2019.

The reopening of a 10-year Greek bond issue was more than five times oversubscribed during an auction held on Wednesday. 

The Public Debt Management Authority said that bids totaled 1.7 billion euros, significantly up from the €300 million asked. 

Tax revenue significantly surpassed targets in the first quarter of 2023, the Finance Ministry said on Wednesday.

In a report on the budget execution on an amended cash basis for January-March, the ministry said that tax revenue totaled €13.68 billion in the three-month period, up 12.4% from budget targets, helping the state budget to record a primary surplus of around €3 billion.

The Technical University of Crete's School of Architecture has drafted a proposal for the redevelopment of the Holy Trinity (Agia Triada) Tzagaroli Monastery, one of the most splendid monastic complexes of the Cretan Renaissance which stretches back to the 17th century. The proposal also envisages its conversion into a Patriarchal Research Foundation.

The Samaria Gorge on the island of Crete will be ready to welcome visitors in May as the maintenance and restoration works of its main path have started, local authorities said on Tuesday. 

The work is being implemented by the Management Unit of Samaria National Park and Protected Areas of Western Crete of the Natural Environment & Climate Change Agency (NECCA). 

The Greek stock market returned from the Easter break with more appetite for growth, as on Tuesday its benchmark climbed for the 11th session in a row.

The Foundation for Economic and Industrial Research (IOBE) has upwardly revised its forecast for Greece's growth in 2023 to 2.4%, from 1.4% three months ago, following a general trend after statistical agency ELSTAT's positive data for a growth rate of 5.9% in 2022.

The Greek stock market made it nine sessions of price growth in a row on Wednesday as most stocks registered moderate gains, although the main index again failed to surpass the psychologically significant 1,100-point milestone. It still climbed to a 40-day high and enjoyed the longest sequence of rising sessions in over 20 months.

A Mytilineos SA general shareholders' meeting on Monday approved a board plan to raise the price ceiling of a share buyback program from 25 to 40 euros and create a special reserve up to €20 million euros to cover the company's participation in investments included in the development law.

Athinon Avenue returned to action on Tuesday after a four-day recess and rewarded those anticipating its reopening with a wholesome session of growth that boosted the benchmark by over 1.7% and pushed daily turnover above 100 million euros. However, the main index once again proved not ready to clear the 1,100-point bar.