Greek Daily News 01/04/2024

ECONOMY

-The new minimum salary to be introduced from today (April 1), will amount to 830 euros gross and it will concern at least 560,000 workers already employed in the private sector, the Minister of Labour and Social Security said. The rise in minimum wage does not cover the workers’ needs, the General Confederation of Workers of Greece (GSEE) stated.

-Freelances and businesses that have not installed POS machines and connected them directly to cash registers will be subject to a €1,500 fine from the Greek government.

-On April 3, Greece is planning to auction 13-Week T-Bills, in book entry form, with maturity on July 5, the Public Debt Management Agency (PDMA) announced.

-Supermarket products prices increased by 2.75% in February 2024 on an annual basis, according to research conducted by the Institute of Retail Consumer Goods Research (IELKA) on major supermarket chains.

-S&P Global’s seasonally adjusted Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for the manufacturing sector in Greece stood at 56.9 points last month, up from 55.7 points in February, the S&P Global survey showed.

-The Piraeus Port Authority (PPA) total revenues reached 219.8 million euros for the fiscal year 2023, up 12.9% or 25.2 million euros compared to 194.6 million euros in the 2022 fiscal year.

-Private building permits increased by 7.2% in December of 2023, compared to the same period the previous year, amounting to 26,698 building permits, the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) said.

TOURISM

-Hotels in Athens have boosted occupancy by 9% in the first two months of this year compared to the corresponding two months of 2023, according to a survey conducted by the Athens – Attica & Argosaronic Hotel Association along with GBR Consulting.

-Travelers on Egnatia Motorway (the main motorway that runs 670 km from Greece’s western port of Igoumenitsa to the eastern Greek-Turkish border at Kipoi, Evros) will pay higher tolls (€0.04 instead of €0.03 per kilometer).

-TUI CEO Sebastian Ebel told an event in Rhodes last week that demand for Greece among the tour operator’s clients remains strong and that the first quarter of 2024 is already 30% higher than the same period of 2023.