Athens News Agency: News in English, 09-11-18

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From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] Poll indicates Samaras lead

[02] Double homicide in Laconia

[03] Four pillars for rekindling econ

[01] Poll indicates Samaras lead

To a question on which of the three candidates was the most suited for the ND presidency, 44 percent of the respondents preferred Samaras, against 28 percent who favored Bakoyannis and 14 percent who opted for Psomiadis.

When narrowed down to ND voters, 41.4 percent preferred Samaras against 40.8 percent for Bakoyannis and 9.5 percent for Psomiadis. Compared with the previous poll by Metron Analysis on the same subject, Samaras' popularity has declined by 2.4 percentage points.

To a question on who they would choose for ND leader, 44.6 percent of the total respondents preferred Samaras, against 27.8 percent for Bakoyannis and 17.8 percent for Psomiadis, while among the ND voters 42.6 percent of the respondents preferred Samaras against Bakoyannis with 39.7 percent and Psomiadis with 14.6 percent.

In the event of a second round (among the two top vote-getters if none of the candidates amasses a majority in the first round of the election, slated for November 29), Samaras was preferred by 49.0 percent of the ND voters among the respondents, against 46.4 percent for Bakoyannis. However, among the ND voters who stated that they will definitely vote in a second round, Bakoyannis led with 50 percent over Samaras with 49.2 percent.

The opinion poll was conducted by telephone on November 18-17 on a nationwide sampling of 1,204 people.

Caption: ANA-MPA file photo of candidate for main opposition New Democracy leadership Antonis Samaras (R) and candidate Dora Bakoyannis(L).

[02] Double homicide in Laconia

The man had a heated argument with his mother on Wednesday morning in the Laconia Association of Agricultural Cooperatives shop, dragged her out of the shop and fatally stabbed her in the middle of the street, and then jumped into his car and ran her over before fleeing the scene.

A short while later, police who were seeking the perpetrator went to his home in the village of Stefania, where they found his sister's body.

Police were combing the entire prefecture for the perpetrator.

[03] Four pillars for rekindling econ

Outlining the government's policy for rekindling the economy in Greece, Katseli said that 6.95 billion euros would be earmarked for 2010 in the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF 2007-2013) for promoting investments and for reinforcements aimed at developing and improving competitiveness.

As for funneling liquidity to the market, she said the arrangement of debts of business concerns and overindebted consumers, revision of the Tiresias (inter-bank list of bad debtors) provisions and European Investment Bank (EIB) programs were being advanced.

On supporting the family budget, the government is advancing a reform of taxation policy, measures to contain high prices, steps to boost competitiveness and consumer protection, monitoring and checks on the markets, and an extraordinary solidarity benefit, the minister continued.

Regarding the fourth pillar, which concerns institutional changes for transparency and better efficiency, measures include utilisation of the NSRF, simplification of the procedures for setting up, licensing and operation of a business, reform of the existing developmental law, enhancing the efficiency of policies aimed at the extroversion of the Greek economy and at attracting investments, and the developmental policy on state procurements, she added.

Katseli said that the PASOK government inherited a very low absorption rate of the NSRF 2007-2013 resources (approximately 800 million euros of the total 26.2 billion euros earmarked in the program), at about 3.07 percent of the total earmarked funds.

The minister stressed that changes will be made to the complex, bureaucratic and concentrative system of management of EU funds, noting that 140 joint ministerial decisions had been required for the materialisation of projects valued at just 800 million euros.

Katseli noted that 16 billion euros in NSRF funds are available for investments up to 2015, adding that 10.3 billion euros of that sum will be channeled via the public investments program in 2010, representing an 8.42 percent increase over 2009.

At the same time, she continued, expenditures for productive restructuring and new investments will be redistributed, with the focus on green development and competitiveness.

Further, the developmental law will be reformed in the immediate future, while the approximately 2,000 investment proposals currently hanging will be assessed.

Katseli also said that she will commence meetings and consultations with other ministers next week as well as with the peripheries for the formulation of the new policy priorities and redistribution of the available resources in the direction of green growth and entrepreneurship.

Caption: Economy, Competitiveness and Shipping Minister Louka Katseli at a press conference on Wednesday 18 November in Athens. ANA-MPA/PANTELIS SAITAS

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