Greek Daily News – 08/02/23

TODAY

POLITICS

-Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis had a telephone conversation with the President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Feb. 6, according to the PM’s office in Athens. During their conversation, the Prime Minister expressed his distress over the devastating earthquake in Turkey and conveyed to Mr Erdogan the support and condolences on behalf of the government and the Greek people for the loss of human lives. It was the first direct contact between the leaders of Greece and Turkey in months.

-Greece has climbed nine places in the “Democracy Index” ranking for 2022 according to the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). Greece’s overall score rose to 7.97 in 2022, up from 7.56 in 2021 lifting the country from 34th place to 25th.

ECONOMY

-Greece’s primary deficit stood at €288 million in 2022, compared to €7.42 billion in 2021. Tax revenues amounted to €56.9 billion, according to the General Government Monthly Data Sheet.

-Greek retail sales volume increased by 0.9% in November 2022 y-o-y (with turnover rising because of the high inflation rate in the country) but fell 1.5% compared with October 2022.

FINANCIAL MARKET

-The stock market in Athens hit a 100-month high on Tuesday (Feb. 7) as the General Index closed up 0.82% to 1,041.51 points.

BUSINESS

-Athens hotel rates increased by 14.4% in 2022 compared to 2019, according to data from the Athens-Attica and Argosaronic Hotel Association.

-Greece expects to have some 85 luxury cruise vessels operating in its waters this year, totaling 36,184 berths, according to the organizers of the 2023 Posidonia Sea Tourism Forum.

-The largest single agreement in the Greek real estate market to date, both in terms of value and the number of properties, was completed on Feb. 04, involving 573 assets in various sectors (i.e. offices, commercial real estate, retail, residential assets, industrial/logistics assets), worth 438 million euros. This is Alpha Bank’s Project Skyline, Premia Properties R.E.I.C. announced.

SHIPPING

The top 5 Greek-owned shipping companies with the most expensive fleets are Maran Gas Maritime, Thenamaris, Maran Tankers, Minerva Maritime and Tsakos Energy Navigation, according to global valuation and data provider VesselsValue.

SOCIAL

Greece is sending a humanitarian aid mission to the earthquake-striken areas in Syria, which has also been devastated by the earthquake that affected Turkey, AMNA reported on Wednesday citing the Climate Change and Civil Protection Ministry.