Greece cut its growth forecast for this year to 1.8 percent from 2.7 percent, according to a mid-term budget plan unveiled late on Saturday, driven by uncertainty caused by delays in concluding the latest review of bailout reforms.
Greece and its foreign creditors — the EU and IMF — reached a deal on reforms earlier this month after six months of tense negotiations but the wrangling hurt economic activity.
The Greek central bank governor had warned the delays could hobble economic recovery.
The 2018-to-2021 plan was submitted to parliament along with the reform deal which lawmakers need to approve.
It forecasts growth of 2.4 percent next year and 2.6 percent in 2019.
The projections are lower than those of the EU Commission, which also cut its growth estimates last week to 2.1 percent this year from 2.7 percent forecast three months ago.
GDP GROWTH
GDP growth was also set to shrink to 2.5 percent next year from the previously estimated 3.1 percent, the commission said.
The government hopes that legislating the new measures on Friday would allow its eurozone partners to approve the deal when they meet on Monday next week and release a new tranche of bailout funds.
It also wants the ministers to sign off on the review to qualify for inclusion in the European Central Bank’s quantitative easing program and return to bond markets after three years of isolation.
Greek government borrowing costs last week hit their lowest level in more than five years.
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
Thousands of parents in Singapore are furious after a Cordlife Group Ltd (康盛人生集團), a major operator of cord blood banks in Asia, irreparably damaged their children’s samples through improper handling, with some now pursuing legal action. The ongoing case, one of the worst to hit the largely untested industry, has renewed concerns over companies marketing themselves to anxious parents with mostly unproven assurances. This has implications across the region, given Cordlife’s operations in Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, the Philippines and India. The parents paid for years to have their infants’ cord blood stored, with the understanding that the stem cells they contained
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day