According to Reuters
, the International Monetary Fund on Saturday denied a report in the German magazine Der Spiegel that it was privately pressing Greece to restructure its debt.
“As we have said consistently, the IMF supports the Greek government’s position of no debt restructuring and its determination to fully service its debt obligations. Any reports claiming otherwise are wrong,” an IMF spokeswoman told Reuters.
Reuters Claims IMF Denies Pressing Greece on Debt Restructuring
Ambassador Mara Marinaki Appointed Chief of EU General Directorate
Greek Ambassador Mara Marinaki (photo) won one of the best positions of the European External Action Service and she was appointed chief of the Directorate General of International and Multilateral Affairs by High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton. “Maria is an experienced diplomat who has contributed to our service in several sectors, such as those of human rights and of non- proliferation of mass destruction weapons”, Mrs. Ashton reports. From this position Mrs. Marinaki will control European foreign policy in internatonal organizations, in issues concerning human rights, security and non-proliferation of mass destruction weapons. Mrs. Marinaki is now the permanent representative of Greece in the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, located in Vienna and has also been head of the Greek representation, during the Greek presidency of OSCE in 2009. She has a lot of experience in the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs and among others cities, she has served in Washington, Berlin and Vienna.
Hard-Working Family of Patras Inherits 17 Million Dollars from American Uncle
A woman with a leg disability from Patras has become a golden heiress. As newspaper “Kosmos” mentions, she is happier than ever, as her financial situation was dismal due to the crisis. Her story looks like a film, since her uncle from the U.S.A. bequeathed her all his property which amounts to 17 million dollars! The woman’s husband is a municipal worker, while she has a leg disability of 80%, which is the reason why she left her island and settled permanently in Patras. The Municipality of the island didn’t seem willing to construct a ramp for her house, claiming that they had financial problems. Recently she received a letter from the U.S.A. It was written in English and was sent by the attorney office her uncle was cooperating with. According to information, at the beginning they couldn’t even read it! When they managed to do so, it was a real shock for her and her family to realize that the woman was a heiress of 17 million dollars!
George Achilleos Wins Silver Medal at Skeet World Cup
George Achilleos won the silver medal in the athletic contest of skeet at the World Cup of Sydney, Australia. He completed the game with 149 successful shots out of 150 discs and with 25 out of 25 he went to the finals. Unfortunately, he missed the second disc of the finals and he lost the gold medal. As far as other Cypriots are concerned, Antonis Andreou conquered 25th place and Kuriakos Christoforou won 50th place.
Eurostat Releases Demographic Data
The life expectancy of Greeks, according to demographic data for 2009 publicised by Eurostat on Friday, is slightly above the European average.
According to the same data, Greek women’s fertility rate, despite increasing over the past six years (1.52 children on average), remains below the corresponding European rate (1.60 children).
Regarding life expectancy in Greece, women live on average 82.7 years, while men 77.8 years, according to Eurostat’s data. The corresponding figures for EU members is 82.4 years for women and 77.8 years for men.
Lastly, according to Eurostat’s data, in 2010 foreigners in Greece represented 8.4 percent of the country’s total population (about 954,800). Seven percent of foreigners come from EU member-states and 1.4 percent from third countries.
(source: ana-mpa)
Finance Ministry Announces all +3,000 Euro Transactions to be Executed via Credit Card or Check
As of today, all transactions between private parties and companies in Greece of more than 3,000 euros have to be executed using credit cards or checks only. The goal of this measure, according to the Finance Ministry, is to monitor and control transactions between private parties in the context of the fight against tax evasion. The limit of 3,000 euros will be lowered to 1,500 euros on January 1, 2012.
Chicago’s The Greek Star Publishes Issue Dedicated to Greek-American Education
This week, The Greek Star newspaper in Chicago, the oldest continuously published Greek newspaper in the United States, published an issue dedicated to Greek-American Education.
With articles written predominantly by area Greek school principals and educators, the paper focuses on issues relating to Greek-American Education, at all levels, from preschool through adult learning. The keepsake issue also includes a directory of Greek schools in Illinois, Southern Wisconsin and Northwest Indiana.
Topics include choosing a school, the benefits of a bilingual education; dispelling the myth that day schools are simply ‘Greek schools’; about the Archdiocese efforts to rewrite Greek school textbooks tailored to the needs of Greek-American students; the Ellinomathia proficiency examinations; a new certification program for Greek teachers at Northeastern Illinois University and more.
The subscription-only publication has served as the voice of Chicago’s Hellenic community since 1904.
6-Year-Old Greek-Australian Raises Money for Queensland Flood Victims
6-year old Isabelle Bouras, apart from being a very good student and good at tennis, music and swimming, proved that she has social awareness.
She went to her grandparents’ business and asked for a small box next to the cashier labeled with “My name is Isabelle Bouras. I am 6 years old and I am collecting money to help the Queensland floods. Thank you for supporting the Queensland floods. Xxoo”.
The sum of 70$, that was raised, was laid into a Westpac account for flood victims in Claiton. Isabelle took an initiative that deeply touched her family.
New Strict Tax Law for Greek Expatriates
A draft tax bill introduces an expanded tax residence definition for individuals. In specific, an individual’s tax residence is to be determined in principle based on the number of days spent in Greece. In this context, an individual spending more than 183 days in Greece during the same calendar year shall be considered as a Greek tax resident, thus being liable for Greek income tax on his worldwide income. Such rule applies, unless the taxpayer is in the position to prove otherwise.
The bill will be up for a vote this coming week. Tax law expert, Costas Kallideris, attorney at Zepos & Yanopoulos believes it will pass and will become a law.
Furthermore, the tax bill provides that individuals relocating to non-cooperating jurisdictions (i.e. black-listed jurisdictions such as Monaco and Liechtenstein) shall be treated as Greek tax residents, thus being subject to Greek income tax on their worldwide income. Based on the wording of the bill, such treatment applies regardless of the years spent outside Greece after the relocation in the non-co-operating jurisdiction. Please note that the jurisdictions which are treated as non-cooperating for purposes of application of the above provision are Andorra, Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Aruba, the Bahamas, Bahrain, Barbados, Bermuda, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Brunei, Cayman Islands, the Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Chile, Dominica, Gibraltar, Grenada, Guatemala, Guernsey, Isle of Man, Jersey, Lebanon, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Malaysia, Marshall Islands, Montserrat, Mauritius, Monaco, Nauru, Netherland Antilles, FYR of Macedonia, Niue, Panama, Philippines, St. Lucia, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Seychelles, Singapore, Turks and Caicos, US Virgin Islands, Vanuatu, Uruguay and Hong-Kong.
Furthermore, the bill provides that individuals who are already registered as residents outside Greece shall be subject to reporting obligations. The scope of such obligations shall be specified by virtue of relevant guidelines to be issued by the Ministry of Finance. In case of failure to duly comply with applicable reporting obligations, relevant individuals shall be considered as Greek tax residents.
The draft bill mentions that the new tax residence provisions apply from the publication of the new law in the Government’s Gazette. However, it is highly likely that the tax authorities will review the relocation of the individuals who have relocated to non-cooperating jurisdictions in the recent past (at least).
(Source: Zepos & Yanopoulos Law Firm| Costas Kallideris, attorney at Zepos & Yanopoulos contributed to this article)
IMF Wants Greece to Restructure Debt – Der Spiegel
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is privately pushing Greece to restructure its debt soon in view of the unsustainable fiscal burdens it is carrying, marking a change of course, German magazine Der Spiegel reported.
Without citing any sources, it wrote on Saturday that high ranking IMF officials were recommending this to European governments due to Greece’s current debt pile that is roughly one-and-a-half times its entire annual economic output.
Early in March, IMF European Director Antonio Borges told reporters he was “confident that Greek debt is sustainable”, adding that the Greeks had made “quite a bit of progress on their banks” as well.
Since the IMF believes current measures no longer suffice, it would like to see either the interest rates on the debt lowered, the maturities extended or straightforward haircuts taken on the debt.
Although it believes Greece should soon begin discussions with creditors over a debt restructuring, it is still not willing to call for the move openly out of fears this could add even further pressure to Portugal and its sagging government balance sheet, Der Spiegel said.