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Athens News Agency: News in English, 06-04-10Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>CONTENTS
[01] Gov't to persist with fiscal adjustment programmeThe Greek government on Monday requested the European Union's approval for the inclusion of home repair services to a lower VAT factor (9.0 pct) from 19 percent currently. Economy and Finance Minister George Alogoskoufis, speaking to reporters, said the request was made at the end of March.The Greek minister stressed that a preparatory dialogue on the pension system would begin after the Easter holidays and noted he was in continuous cooperation with Labour Minister Savvas Tsitouridis on the issue. Commenting on the inflation rate, Alogoskoufis said the March 3.3 percent figure could not be described as particularly negative for Greece amidst a huge increase in international oil prices. He acknowledged, however, that the country faced an inflation problem since the consumer price inflation has not be reduced as much as it should be, five years after Greece entered the EMU. Alogoskoufis said Eurostat would publish its final figures for the country's fiscal deficit in 2005 and in previous years and stressed that despite any reviews of the deficit, the government would persist with its fiscal adjustment programme and its fiscal goals for 2006. ANA-MPA Copyright © 2004-2005 All rights reserved. [02] Minister Palli-Petralia meets Burns in WashingtonGreece's visiting Tourism Development Minister Fani Palli-Petralia met with U.S. Underecretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns at the State Department on Monday and discussed with him the posssibily of an increase of tourism from the United States to Greece, but also on the broader framework of bilateral relations.Palli-Petralia who is in Washington to take part in the World Tourism Conference which is taking place these coming two days, described the 45-minute discussion as excellent, noting that Burns "is a good friend of Greece and knows Greek reality." She called for the need of cooperation aimed at attracting American tourists to Greece, noting that "the Greek government's priority is to attract American tourists to our country, as the benefit from high level tourism will be important." Burns agreed with the Greek tourism minister that "following the successful hosting of the Olympic Games in 2004, Greece constitutes an important and safe tourism destination, while it also henceforth possesses ultra-modern infrastructures." Earliier, Palli-Petralia had a working luncheon with travel agents to whom she presented the Greek tourism environment and discussed details of services which Greece offers. ANA-MPA Copyright © 2004-2005 All rights reserved. Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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