Greek shipowners’ spending on new ship orders increases ten-fold in the first ten months of 2010, with Greek owners spending 450 million dollars on 13 orders in October alone. During the period January-October, orders were placed for 231 new vessels, with a total carrying capacity of just over 25.8 million tons, for $6.38 billion, compared with 36 orders for $623.8 million in the same period of 2009, according to a report by a Piraeus-based broker.
Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou says the government hopes to raise 7 billion euros from privatizations over the next three years–a figure that is double its previous target–in a bid to cut the country’s debt burden. His remarks come at the end of an eight-day visit by a delegation of European and International Monetary Fund officials to assess Greece’s eligibility to receive aid under a 110-billion-euro loan deal signed last May.
E-commerce is on the rise, with turnover in Greece expected to total 1.4 billion euros in 2010, up 75 per cent from 2009, with the annual average purchase from an on-line shop totaling 1,500 euros.
In a bid to spur tourism, Greece cuts VAT on tourism services from 11 per cent to 6.5 percent.
A report by the National Confederation of Greek Trade (ESEE) shows a 44 per cent rise in bankruptcies in 2010 over the previous year. It projects that one in two major enterprises will go ahead with mass dismissals in 2011.
Meanwhile, the European Commission projects unemployment in Greece to rise to 15 per cent in 2011 and 15.2 per cent in 2012, pushing the number of jobless Greeks to 750,000 in 2011.
The Health Ministry says the government will issue 5 billion euros in non-interest bearing bonds to suppliers of state hospitals to settle debt for the period from 2007 to 2009.
A European Commission report suggests that trading in credit default swaps wasn’t to blame for skyrocketing Greek borrowing costs earlier this year, despite the fingerpointing by some European politicians.