Economy

The Greek government promotes a new development law that avoids direct state subsidies but offers tax exemptions, depreciations and guarantees low-interest-rate loans especially for young entrepreneurs. After several postponements and alternations, the Minister of Development, Michalis Chrisochoidis (photo), is presenting...

Negotiations on extending the international loans Greece received earlier this year to stave off bankruptcy will be finalized soon. European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso confirmed this on Monday. In May, Greece was told it had to start repaying its 110- billion-euro...

According to a statement by Greek Central Bank Governor George Provopoulos to Kathimerini newspaper, Greece doesn’t need to restructure its debt to reduce its deficit.  He feels that the social and economic cost of restructuring would be great. He also said that...

Standard & Poor warned Greece it could receive a lower credit rating.  This stems from a possible European Union treaty that would change the seniority of private-sector creditors, according to the agency’s latest press release. S&P said it placed Greece’s “BB+”...

ATEbank will reduce its workforce by 1,000 persons, cut payouts by 10%, shut down branches and sell all its non-bank holdings as part of its restructuring plan. The state run bank will go through a triple merger with the Loans...

The Greek government is planning a four-day round of tough negotiations in Brussels and Athens for extending the repayment the EU loan. Officials from the Ministry of Finance leave on Monday for the two-day ECOFIN meeting in Brussels.  Greece is...

Greek companies declaring bankruptcy have increased by 44% in 2010.  This is due to the severe economic crisis that has hit Greece, the National Confederation of Greek Trade (ESEE) said in a report on Monday. Approximately one in two...

Greece’s Finance Minister said Tuesday that he welcomes a discussion on an extension of the repayment period of the 110 billion Euro bailout.  However he warned that a general debt restructuring would be a catastrophe. "Euro zone ministers will meet in the...

Greece’s Finance Minister said Monday that the country is likely to get an extension for the repayment of its EUR110 billion bailout, Dow Jones Newswires reports. "We will be given a grace period of four years and then seven years...

European officials say they are considering giving Greece more time to pay back its 110 euro billion emergency loan package. EU Monetary Affairs Chief Olli Rehn said on Sunday that Finance Ministers have agreed to look into extending the deadline...

Citibank announced a large scale restructuring of its activities in Greece.  It closed 31 branches out of a total of 72 branches in its network in the country. A bank announcement said the decision was part of a general strategy...

ATEbank stated it plans to boost its capital by 1 billion euros on Wednesday in efforts to strengthen its balance sheet. "ATEbank, in cooperation and with the support of its major shareholder, the Greek state, will proceed in the coming period...

Greece will have to restructure its debt or leave Europe’s monetary union, New York University Professor Nouriel Roubini told Boerse-Online, reported Bloomberg. Greece’s debt is so high that Greece cannot avoid restructuring, he said. The only other realistic way for Greece...

General Bank, Societe General’s Greek unit, said Wednesday that its share capital increase of EUR339.733mil. was fully subscribed. “In specific, existing shareholders participated from 5/11/2010 up to 19/11/2010 included, by offering 183,561,337.41 euros corresponding to 57,542,739 new ordinary registered shares,...

Greece is broadly on track in implementing its fiscal adjustment program, the EU/IMF mission in Athens said Tuesday.  However the mission warned that challenges remain. “Our overall assessment is that the program remains broadly on track. The end-September quantitative criteria...