OECD

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has travelled to Brussels today on order to meet, early in the morning, with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and the head of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz.

Greece and the OECD group of industrialized nations signed on Thursday a cooperation deal aimed at helping the crisis-hit eurozone country carry out reforms, officials said on Thursday.

"The OECD will provide Greece with the know-how regarding the design and the implementation of reforms which are the priorities of the Greek government," a Greek official said.

During the press conference that followed his meeting with OECD secretary general Angel Gurria at the organization's headquarters in Paris, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras underlined that Greece has had enough with austerity.

The negotiations between the Greek side and the country's creditors that begun yesterday in Brussels were once again interrupted by the sudden departure of Greek finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has accused the European Central Bank of holding "a rope" around the country's neck as Athens scrambled on March 6 to avert a looming state default.
      
The ECB "is still holding the rope which we have around our necks," said Tsipras, according to excerpts of an interview with Germany magazine Der Spiegel to appear Saturday.
      

The cost of bribery and its impact on economic growth is huge, Nicola Bonucci, head of legal affairs at the Organization for Co-operation and Development, said on March 6.

"What is clear is that whatever the sector we are talking about, the costs are huge," Bonucci said, speaking at the G-20 conference presided over by Turkey in Istanbul.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has begun a series of contacts with European leaders and officials aimed at breaking down the wall of distrust against Greece, evident by the European Central Bank's (ECB) refusal to include Greece in its  funding scheme.

Ali Koç, the coordinator in the Group of 20 offshoot B-20?s employment mission, has said global income distribution is rapidly worsening, as Turkey?s Labor Minister said Turkey has been doing well in the fight against poverty.

Α list of reforms prepared and submitted by the Greek government to its eurozone creditors will reportedly include measures on fighting tax evasion and corruption, reforming the public sector, slashing red-tape and settling overdue tax debts and “bad loans”.

12 general fields of reforms are eyed:

-Incentives for tax arrears of up to 100 installments

Although Bulgaria does not have good health indicators, it is among the leaders in Europe on the amount of funds expended on hospitals.

Bulgaria spends 52 % of the state funds allocated to treatment on hospitals, which is 20 % higher than the corresponding share in other European countries, daily Sega reports.