In Brief
Gov’t says GDP revision will not put EU funds at risk Greece said yesterday it was not at risk of losing EU funding as a result of a proposed revision of its economic output by 25 percent, at least until 2010. Greece could see its GDP rise by as much as 25 percent following the government’s decision last week to include part of the black economy in its calculations for the 2001-2006 period. This will result in Greece appearing more prosperous than before and less in need of EU funds. «The amount of funding we are to receive from the Cohesion Fund until 2010 is locked in; after that, there is uncertainty,» Finance Minister Giorgos Alogoskoufis told a parliamentary committee. Based on the 2006 budget and without taking into consideration the planned revision, Greece’s nominal GDP is estimated to reach 194.9 billion euros ($247.8 billion) this year. (Reuters) Athens bourse rejigs FTSE/ASE stock indices The Athens Stock Exchange and index compiler FTSE International rejigged their FTSE/ASE stock indices yesterday after a semi-annual review. The review resulted in two changes in the Athens benchmark index with Plaisio Computers and Cardico replacing Regency Entertainment and port operator Piraeus Port Authority. There was one change in the blue chip FTSE/ASE 20 index with Bank of Cyprus replacing Regency Entertainment. Three constituents changed in the mid-cap FTSE/ASE 40 index. Proton Investment Bank, Halcor and Blue Star Maritime will replace Bank of Cyprus, Attica Bank and Piraeus Port Authority. The changes go into effect on October 9. (Reuters) Bond trade jumps The volume of Greek government debt traded on the central bank’s electronic system (HDAT) jumped to 52.5 billion euros in September from 43 billion in August, the Bank of Greece said yesterday. Daily average turnover rose to 2.5 billion euros from 1.95 billion. The central bank said investor interest mainly focused on the long end of the yield curve, particularly paper with remaining maturities of between 7 and 10 years, which absorbed 66 percent of overall volume. The most actively traded bond was the 10-year benchmark, which recorded 24 billion euros’ worth of transactions. (Reuters) Ramadan effect Turkey’s central bank expects to see a marked effect on prices in October from the holy month of Ramadan, the Anatolia state news agency quoted it as saying in its inflation report. In September, when month-on-month consumer price inflation rose 1.29 percent, the impact of Ramadan was around 0.2 points, the bank was quoted as saying. (Reuters)
