Economy of Greece

LONDON – The first batch of issuance under a “minibond” program that the Athens Exchange Group (ATHEX) has been promoting to finance Greek SMEs is set for launch after the summer break.

 Fund remains against horizontal cuts to salaries and pensions

By Katerina Sokou

The International Monetary Fund insists that Greece’s debt needs to be restructured and is waiting for the issue to be discussed this fall in the context of the Greek economy’s next assessment, a spokesman for the Washington-based Fund confirmed on Thursday.

Greece's economy should grow 0.7 percent this year, pulling clear of a six-year recession, but its soaring unemployment rate is likely to drop less than hoped, the country's leading economic think tank said on Wednesday.

Greece's economy is expected to grow by 0.7 percent this year pulling itself out of a six-year recession, helped by higher tourism revenues and stronger household spending, the Athens-based IOBE think tank said on Wednesday.

IOBE had earlier predicted a small economic expansion for the year, without setting a forecast.

By Margarita Pournara

A recent visit by newly appointed Culture Minister Costas Tasoulas to the Archaeological Site of Nemea brought some good news to one of the country’s leading sites, which has been struggling to stay open due to staff and security shortages since the start of the crisis.

Greece raised 1.5 billion euros from the issue of a three-year bond on Thursday with a yield of 3.5 percent, the finance ministry said in a statement.

Athens said it received orders worth 3 billion euros. It had been expected to raise between 2.5 billion to 3 billion euros but faced lackluster demand following concerns about the health of a parent company of Portugal's largest bank.

 Having secured 1-bln-euro sub-tranche from eurozone, Finance Ministry will proceed to 3-year debt issue

By Eleni Varvitsiotis and Sotiris Nikas

Greece’s betting monopoly OPAP has begun a voluntary redundancy scheme for about three-quarters of its staff to cut costs, one of its biggest unions said on Thursday.

OPAP, one of Europe’s largest betting companies, declined to say whether it was offering the scheme, which will mainly affect its retail network supporting services.

Greece's betting monopoly OPAP has begun a voluntary redundancy scheme for about three-quarters of its staff to cut costs, one of its biggest unions said on Thursday.

 Finance Ministry to tap market once it has secured disbursement of 1 billion euros from Eurogroup

By Sotiris Nikas