Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 17-01-12

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

CONTENTS

[01] Unreasonable demands will not be accepted, gov't spokesman says

[02] Alt. FM Katrougalos meets with German counterpart Roth

[03] Greek unemployment rate eased to 23 pct in October

[04] ECB lowers borrowing ceiling for Greek banks

[05] Bad weather conditions prevent refugees from crossing the Aegean

[01] Unreasonable demands will not be accepted, gov't spokesman says

Unreasonable demands as well as demands not included in the agreement will not be accepted, Tzanakopoulos said referring to the second review of the Greek programme.

Asked on whether there will be a second contact between the Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, even within the day, he said that all possibilities are open. "We are closely monitoring the negotiations and if need be for a second contact, we will do so."

He explained that the conference has not yet officially started adding that the talks will start at 6 pm.

The Greek government is committed to working hard in order to find a solution to the Cyprus issue, he stated adding that we have connected the presence of the prime minister in Geneva with the possibility of finding a solution.

[02] Alt. FM Katrougalos meets with German counterpart Roth

According to a Greek Foreign Ministry announcement, the two officials focused on matters of bilateral, European and international interest.

Moreover, Katrougalos met with the federal deputy and member of the executive committee of Die Linke Thomas Nord and the president of Ver.di Frank Bsirske.

Katrougalos noted the need for the promotion of a progressive agenda at political and social level which will rekindle the European citizens' interest for the fundamental values, the ideals and the EU vision and intercept the extreme nationalist and demagogic trends in Europe. He also noted that a new political alternative must emerge against the forces the continue to insist on the fruitless policies of austerity without a social perspective.

[03] Greek unemployment rate eased to 23 pct in October

The statistics service, in a monthly report, said that the number of unemployed people totaled 1,102,335 in October, with the number of unemployed people in the 55-64 age group rising steadily as companies dismissed older workers to hire young ones at the minimum wage.

The number of unemployed people fell by 80,656 in October compared with October 2015 (a decline of 6.8 pct) and by 8,146 compared with September (a decline of 0.7 pct). The number of employed people totaled 3,688,381 in October, down 0.2 pct from September, but up 1.4 pct from October 2015.

Unemployment remained higher among women (27.7 pct in October from 28.6 pct in October 2015) compared with men (19.2 pct and 21.3 pct respectively. The unemployment rate in the 15-24 age group fell to 44.2 pct from 48.8 pct in October 2015, in the 25-34 age group it fell to 29.7 pct from 31.2 pct, in the 35-44 age group it fell to 19 pct from 22.1 pct, in the 45-54 age group it fell to 18.4 pct from 19.6 pct, in the 55-64 age group it rose to 19.3 pct from 16.5 pct and in the 65-74 age group it rose to 11.8 pct from 10.2 pct.

[04] ECB lowers borrowing ceiling for Greek banks

In an announcement, the central bank said that on 11 January 2017 the Governing Council of the ECB did not object to an ELA-ceiling for Greek banks of 46.5 billion euros, up to and including Wednesday, 1 February 2017, following a request by the Bank of Greece.

The reduction of 4.2 billion euros in the ceiling reflects an improvement of the liquidity situation of Greek banks, amid a reduction of uncertainty and the stabilization of private sector deposits flows, the central bank said.

[05] Bad weather conditions prevent refugees from crossing the Aegean

No arrivals were recorded on the northern Aegean islands in the last 48 hours.

Police said that the number of refugees and migrants that have sought asylum which has not been examined yet was 10,810 on Thursday. 5,405 of them are on Lesvos, 3,486 on Chios and 1,919 on Samos.

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