Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 16-11-08

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

CONTENTS

[01] The government is focused on the conclusion of 2nd programme review, Alternate Defence Min Vitsas says

[02] Bears promenade in the streets of Kastoria

[03] Government reshuffle is pointless unless economic policy changes, Korkidis says

[04] Greek exports grew significantly in September

[01] The government is focused on the conclusion of 2nd programme review, Alternate Defence Min Vitsas says

He underlined that after the conclusion of the second programme review starts the debate on debt relief measures and appeared optimistic on the course of the Greek economy.

Asked on the recent statements of Turkey's and Albania's leaders, Vitsas said that the external environment on a global scale is unstable and insecure because of the conflicts and terrorism. However, he sent a clear message to every direction:

[02] Bears promenade in the streets of Kastoria

Police tried to frighten the bears and make them leave but instead of leaving the city they turned back and took the streets of Kastoria, said the member of Kastoria Environment Protection Society Nikos Panagiotopoulos to Athens Macedonian News Agency.

"We tried to frighten them and send them to the mountain but the two bears appeared to be accustomed to humans and for this reason they were very calm during their promenade in the city," said Panagiotopoulos.

Four hours later the two bears decided to leave the city and return to the mountain.

"The one-year old bears were seen several times with their mother in the wider region and probably they will come back looking for food. It is interesting that at the foot of the mountain there is a playground and the little bears love to play on the swings and especially on the seesaw."

[03] Government reshuffle is pointless unless economic policy changes, Korkidis says

"The priorities of the new government is the reduction of over-taxation, the settlement of the internal debt market, liquidity, the social security system, the social dialogue and the establishment of fair and friendly business environment, so that small and medium sized companies implement initiatives that will boost employment and competitiveness. But under current circmstances our prior actions to the institutions remain wishful thinking as long as the memorandum policies of the creditors are not reshuffled," he underlined.

[04] Greek exports grew significantly in September

In an analysis of provisional data released by Hellenic Statistical Authority on the country's merchandize trade in September, the Federation said the value of exports grew 16.6 pct �� 2.35 billion euros, from 2.05 billion in September 2015. A rebound in international oil prices helped in the increase of exports in September, but almost all sectors recorded an increase in exports. The value of exports excluding oil products grew by 12 pct in September compared with the same month in 2015.

This development helped to reduce losses suffered in the previous months of 2016 to 3.7 pct (18.56 billion euros from 19.28 billion in the nine-month period). In the January-August period, the value of exports was down 6.3 pct compared with 2015.

Excluding oil products, exports grew 1.0 pct in the nine-month period, after falling by 0.5 pct in the first eight months of the year.

Exports to EU member-states grew 11.6 pct, while exports to third countries rose 23.3 pct. Excluding oil products, exports to EU grew 12.2 pct and exports to third countries rose 11.7 pct.

In the nine-month period, Greek exports to EU countries grew 0.9 pct, but fell 9.4 pct to the rest of the world. Excluding oil products, exports to EU countries grew 4.1 pct and exports to third countries fell 5.4 pct.

All export sectors grew in September, for the first time in two years, led by oil products (+28.5 pct), machinery (+25.5 pct) and raw materials (+23.7 pct), followed by chemical products (+6.1 pct) and industrial products (+6.3 pct).

�n the nine-month period, six out of 10 sectors still record losses.

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