ΤΑ ΝΕΑ


The Murder That Marks Athens Five Years On

Athens is expected to be gridlocked from early on in the day as today there are demonstrations planned to mark the five year anniversary of the cold blooded murder of Alexis Grigoropoulos.

 
 

 
   

ELEFTHEROTYPIA
 

39% Are Poor While 37% Throw Food Away

In this time of crisis when, according to Eurostat, 39% of Greeks are poor, another 37% waste food at least once or twice a month! Mainly young people are responsible – 18 to 34 year olds – as they are the group who throw the most food in the garbage.

Salaries of Shame: 500-900 € for 3 out of 10 Greeks

3 out of 10 workers are paid starvation wages ranging between 500 and 900 € according to a survey of the salaried labour market conducted by the Labour Ministry. According to the data there are 196,695 active businesses in Greece.

 
 
 

ΚΑΤΗΙΜΕRΙΝΙ

Securing the Electricity Supply of the Needy With Municipal Aid

An initiative to secure the electricity supply of the financially needy is being launched by the government which is enlisting the help of municipalities and the PPC (Public Power Corporation). In a meeting held by Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and the leader of PASOK Evangelos Venizelos it was decided that a mechanism would be established in every municipality in the country to examine the individual cases of consumers requiring special assistance

 
 

AVGI

Poverty Colony

One in three Greeks are on the brink of poverty (34%) and social exclusion according to Eurostat. One in four (25%) workers are paid wages below the poverty line according to data from the Labour Ministry. A five year old boy and his grandmother almost die in a fire in their apartment without electricity a few days after the tragic death of a thirteen year-old girl. Over 350,000 households are without power, unable to afford their electricity bills. Samaras and Venizelos make a show of their ‘sensitivity’ with substanceless recommendations for ‘local’ case-by-case handling of problems.

Close to 4 million Greeks are facing poverty – meaning that they lack basic goods – either due to unemployment or because they receive wages below the poverty line or are in danger of falling below it due to mandatory part-time employment. Greece is on the blacklist of poverty and social exclusion according to Eurostat, with levels lower only than those of Romania, Bulgaria and Latvia. According to the Labour Ministry there are 270,000 impoverished workers (410€/mo). Another 23,000 are paid gross salaries below 1000€.

 
 

HRIMATISTIRIO

Plans move ahead for return to markets in 2014

The government is already planning the financial techniques it will employ to allow Greece’s return to the markets during the second half of 2014 according to a speech made in parliament by Deputy Finance Minister Christos Staikouras. According to Mr Staikouras this was only one part of a broader strategy that would be rolled out in the immediate future that would attempt to capitalize on the positive results achieved in public finances.
“The government is proceeding with laying the groundwork for the country to return to the markets. In this direction and in combination with the already important fiscal achievements and the positive macroeconomic indicators, is the promotion of the planning of the financial techniques that will allow Greece to return to the international capital markets in the second half of 2014,” Mr Staikouras stressed.

Mr Staikouras also said that the 2014 budget was developed by the government in order to achieve stabilization of Greece’s finances, also stating that the efforts of the government “capitalized on the first positive indications which were seen this year that came as a result of the great sacrifices made by the Greek citizenry,” adding that the budget, “is based on real data and realistic predictions.”