Prime Minister George Papandreou in an in-depth interview in the American magazine Foreign Policy (July 19) explained the reasons behind the crisis and the measures taken by his government in order to tackle it.
My government, for example, has now brought in laws such as total transparency in all signatures in the public sector, putting more and more tax reform resources and contracts online.”
Finally, he debunked recent media stereotypes of Greeks being lazy and concluded saying that: “we’ve seen in this crisis is that we need more Europe, not less…[ ]Filed under: Economy, European Union, Government, Greece, Greek Prime Minister, International Relations, Media, Politics | Tagged: Affairs, American, banking, bureaucracy, changes, Common, contracts, Country, crisis, current, defaulting, democratic, Economic, Economy, Europe, European, foreign, George, Global, Governance, Government, Greece, Greek, Greeks, institutions, Interview, πρωθυπουργός, πτώχευση, περιοδικό, πολιτική, στερεότυπα, συμβάσεις, συνέντευξη, σύστημα, τράπεζες, τραπεζικό, τεύχος, τεμπέληδες, τομέας, υποστήριξη, φορολογική, χρήματα, χρεωκοπία, χώρα, Έλληνες, Ένωση, Γιώργος, Ευρώπη, Ελλάδα, Ελληνική, Ιούλιος, ΜΜΕ, Προβλήματα, Παπανδρέου, έσοδα, έλλειψη, αιτίες, αλλαγές, αμερικανικό, αξίες, γραφειοκρατία, δυστυχία, δημόσιος, δημοκρατικές, διαφάνεια, διαδικτυακή, ευρωπαϊκή, εξωτερική, κρίση, κυβέρνηση, λόγοι, μέτρα, μεταρρύθμιση, νόμοι, οικονομία, οικονομική, July, lack, laws, lazy, Magazine, Measures, Media, Minister, money, of, online, Papandreou, patronage, People, Policy, Politics, premier, Prime, problems, public, reasons, Reform, resources, Science, sector, stereotypes, Support, tax, total, Transparency, unhappiness, Union, values | Comments Off on PM George Papandreou in “Foreign Policy” Magazine
. The concept behind government’s actions was to enhance the liquidity of the economy in response to the impact of the international financial crisis, using the banking system as a means to this end. Through the new law, funding is provided for economic growth, for boosting employment, small- and medium-sized enterprises and housing loans. Last week the European Union gave its approval, confirming the conformity of the draft with the respective European policy. After the European Commission’s green light, Finance Minister George Alogoskoufis carried out limited corrective changes to the bill, so as not to stir illicit competition between the banks of different countries. These changes are: Public guarantees can only last up to three years instead of five; the same reduction will be applied to public sector bonds. In addition, banks included in the €5 billion capital base support package will not be entitled to distribute dividends to their stockholders for as long as they partake in the plan. Ministry of Economy and Finance: 
Embassy of Greece in Poland Press & Communication Office 