Greek Daily News 24/10/2023

ECONOMY

-Greece’s public debt stood at 356.597 billion euros, or 172.6% of GDP, in 2022, the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) said in a report sent to Eurostat on Monday.

-Italy’s UniCredit is set to become Alpha Bank’s biggest investor by buying a 9% stake owned by Greece’s bank bailout fund (HFSF), the Italian lender announced on Monday. Unicredit also agreed to acquire 90% of Alpha’s Romanian business.

-In the first nine months of 2023, the increase in the turnover of online super markets was 15% and reached 220 million euros at retail prices including VAT, a report by Convert Group showed.

REAL ESTATE

By the end of the year it is expected that 25% more holiday homes in Greece will have been bought by foreigners compared to 2022, Oikonomikos Taxydromos reported citing data compiled by Elxis, a company specializing in this market. Most buyers purchase holiday homes worth between 250,000 and 500,000 euros.

TRAVEL

The number of inbound travelers increased by 18.4% to 22.6 million in the first eight months of 2023 compared to 19.1 million in the same period the previous year, according to the Bank of Greece (BoG). In the period under review traveler flows through airports grew by 12.4%, while traveler flows through road border-crossing points rose 38.4%