DEPUTY Prime Minister and Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos lashes out at the Parliamentary Budget Office for its report claiming that the country’s debt is out of control and warning of a “significantly deeper” recession. Venizelos dismisses the claims saying the committee, whose task is to provide parliamentary oversight of the government’s finances, lacks the “credible data” used by international organizations.
THE GREEK stock market regulator bans shortselling on the exchange for two months after the Athens stock index goes into freefall following another credit downgrade by a U.S. rating agency.
GREEK retailers report a sharp downturn in business business, with some 68,000 businesses closing down since the beginning of the year and roughly 50,000 more project to go out of business by year’s end.