FinMin:Further reductions in unemployment, deficit

First Published:	28/09/2006 12:44:00
National economy and finance minister George Alogoskoufis on Wednesday announced further reductions in unemployment and the state deficit, in a briefing of parliament's standing committee on the Peripheries, which it informed that, in accordinance to indications by the National Statistics Service (ESYE) for the second quarter of the year, unemployment would drop to below 9.0 percent from 9.6 percent in the corresponding quarter in 2005. ESYE was due to announce the unemployment figures in the next few days. Alogoskoufis also referred to the draft 2007 budget, which would be unveiled on Monday in parliament and which, he said, was not founded on the revised figures for the Gross National Product (GNP) but on the original figures. "Our estimates for the 2006 deficit are that we will attain the target of 2.6 percent, based on the old GNP and not on the revised one," Alogoskoufis said. For next year, "we are close to achieving the target of the Stability and Growth Programme, which is a further reduction of the deficit to 2.3 percent," Alogoskoufis said, adding that "my estimate is that the deficit will be at 2.4 percentage points of GNP". The minister further announced that the new investment law, which will enter into effect as of 2007, will be unveiled in October. He said the new law will contain small improvements to the existing investment law, while it will also be based on the new map of EU regional reinforcements. At the present time, Alogoskoufis said, the government was in "delicate negotiations" with the EU concerning the revision of the 3rd Community Support Framework (CSF, 2000-2006), aimed at minimising the risk of losses of funds. "Our philosophy is that the monies that would have gone to projects that have no hope of being materialised will be chanelled to other programmes," he said. Finally, he assured that more than 80 percent of the funds earmarked for Greece under the 4th CSF (2007-2013) would be channeled to the periphery.
Source:  Athens News Agency http://www.ana.gr

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