The office of Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaris said it accepted Rapanos' resignation after receiving a letter from the ailing official, who is 64. Rapanos had been rushed to the hospital Friday after complaining about dizziness and abdominal pains. He was to be released from hospital on Tuesday, but no further details were available.From the markets, there's much more optimism. Deposits are coming back to banks, the government is paying its arrears to the private sector and there is a change in how Europe sees us. So all the leading indicators are positive. We are two-thirds of the way towards our target. So people can have hope.Samaras' government, comprised of his New Democracy conservatives, their long-time socialist rivals PASOK and the small Democratic Left party, has issued a policy statement outlining changes it would like to make to the terms of its international bailout. Those include repealing certain tax hikes, freezing public sector layoffs and extending by two years the mid-2014 deadline for tough austerity measures.
The economy has contracted by a cumulative 24 percent since 2008, according to the country's central bank."Whatever positive we achieve henceforth will be like rain falling in the desert, given that the country will be waking up from a recession of unprecedented duration," Stournaras said.
In a separate speech to a medical conference, Stournaras said Greece would use 16 billion euros to recapitalize banks next week, and another 7.2 billion in the first quarter, after international lenders said they would resume aid payments on Thursday.We voted and agreed with the Eurogroup and the troika that in 2013 and 2014, Greece will have to save 13.5 billion euros in total. About 3 billion euros is to come from revenues. This means we need revenues and the troika does not accept the argument that we will overcome large tax evasion to achieve these revenues. They say that we can try to achieve this and if we manage it then we can look at relaxing demands. So we've submitted proposals that attempt to simplify the tax scale, to include self-employed professionals and farmers, to increase tax on savings and on cigarettes, all of which should bring in 3 billion euros. Whether we like it or not, we have to bring in new revenues.
Banks will be able to boost their portfolios with new, strong bonds from the EFSF (European Financial Stability Facility), without accessing the (central bank's) ELA (emergency liquidity assistance) mechanism," Stournaras told the conference.Everyone has red lines. I have to balance three things, though. Firstly, I have to respect the fact that there is a three-party coalition in which everyone has an opinion. I have to listen to what they say carefully. Secondly, there's the troika, who are our lenders and who have their demands before they disburse loans. Thirdly, my conscience and the oath I took as finance minister and the member of a government that has to succeed. This is not an easy task. Results suggest that we've succeede
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