ECONOMY

In Brief

‘Never on Sunday,’ says tradesmen’s confederation The National Confederation of Greek Commerce (ESEE) yesterday opposed any plans allowing stores to open on Sundays, indicating the reaction of the sector across Greece, and particularly among small and medium-sized enterprises. «The debate for the seven Sundays per year is the loophole for the full liberalization of Sunday opening for stores over the whole year,» ESEE stated, adding that the demand for opening on Sundays «does not come from the sector or from consumers, but from big shopping centers which are founded and operate without zoning planning and objective studies about environmental, financial and social effects, which only happens in Third World countries.» Consequently, it added, the Sunday holiday is non-negotiable. Greek growth rate revised upward The European Commission yesterday revised upward its estimate of Greece’s growth rate for the 2005 third quarter to 3.8 percent, from 3.7 percent in November, and an initial projection of about one percentage point lower. This is the second-highest rate in the eurozone after Ireland’s 5.2 percent. Latvia and Estonia were top in the EU, with 11.4 and 10.4 percent respectively. Q-Telecom Private equity groups TPG and Apax won approval from Europe’s competition authorities yesterday to buy Q-Telecom, a unit of Greek IT and telecoms group Infoquest. «After a thorough investigation the Commission has concluded that the operation will not result in a significant impediment to effective competition,» a statement from the Competition Commission said. The deal is worth 325 million euros ($392 million). Texas Pacific Group (TPG) and Apax Partners are private equity firms that control mobile operator TIM Hellas. (Reuters) Cyprus rate stays put Cyprus kept its key interest rate unchanged at 3.25 percent during a monthly review by the Monetary Policy Committee yesterday, Christodoulos Christodoulou, the central bank governor, said. Dealers forecast a rate move early this year. «We expected they would wait another two or three months to monitor inflation before taking a decision. But I do expect a drop in the first quarter,» the dealer at a Nicosia bank said. (Reuters) Fall from grace Serbia’s central bank governor yesterday relieved Vice Governor Dejan Simic of duty, a day after police arrested the official on suspicion of corruption. «As of today, the authority of (Mr Dejan) Simic has been revoked… This decision is inevitable because the interests of the institution and public confidence in it are at stake,» Radovan Jelasic told reporters. Simic, who was in charge of supervising the banking sector, was arrested late Wednesday on suspicion that he had solicited and accepted a bribe. (Reuters) Kosovo privatization Kosovo’s UN-run privatization agency said yesterday it has extended the deadline for bids for the province’s biggest hotel and several other companies by nearly a month. They include Grand Hotel Pristina, Pec Brewery, Orahovac winery and vineyards and a magnesite mine, a statement from the agency said. (AP)

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