1:17 PM
Kajzer Soze
This year the country remains in recession sixth year in a row, and ahead of it's citizens stand major new challenges. The trend of closing businesses, strikes, reduced pays and pensions continues in this year as well, and the Greek institutions warn of worsening situation because of rising unemployment and poverty. Greeks are convinced that evil is yet to come.
Frightened by the frequent attacks of the "Golden Dawn" in Athens, many African immigrants arrived in Thessaloniki, although there is a lot lower earning. They cell CD's or hand-knitted gloves, which no one wants to buy.
"The glamour of the New Year's celebration has been long gone. Now days mostly immigrants come to the Square. Compared to the countries from which they come from, Greece is still ideal for them, although the Greeks are desperate and without money because of the crisis. The hardest thing is first to have, and than not to have, and they say worst is yet to come" - commented some of the Thessalonians that we met in the square.
The entrance in the new year was symbolically marked with modest firework, which looked more like marking a small wedding. It is cut on everything.
New 2013 for the majority of Greeks only brings old problems, uncertainty and even more savings and reduced incomes and pensions. Strikes remain commonplace. Communal workers, who didn't collect garbage for days in Thessaloniki, continued with the strike in the new year, and were joined by the rail workers in the first day of 2013.
Luckiest will be satisfied to preserve their work with reduced salary, no bonuses and additional working hours for two years until retirement. In the first half of last year, 150.000 Greeks lost their jobs, information released recently by the European Commission (EC). The country currently faces high unemployment, which reached 26% and is among the highest in the European Union (EU). Estimates are that by the end of this year it can reach up to 30%. Before the crisis it was 7.6%.
An hour after midnight, streets of Thessaloniki were already overflowing with people. Smiling and drunk, they all rushed to their favorite bars and clubs, such is the order, bohemian, in Greek, to celebrate the new year, despite all the negative forecasts for 2013, that Greek newspapers were full of these days.
SIXTH CONSECUTIVE YEAR IN RECESSION
This year the recession in Greece will be worse than what was previously expected, much worse than it was stated in the budget. Greece, which is pressed by debts, will notice higher budget deficit than predicted two months ago. It is expected that the economic activities of the state in 2013 will be reduced by 4.5%, although they were previously projected with a fall of 3.8%.
On the other hand, the Greek government intends to save 9.4 billion euros in 2013, which is significantly more than the 7.8 billion planned by the previous projection. This measure will be implemented through further reductions in state salaries, pensions and benefits.
The country that is in her sixth consecutive year in recession is expected to achieve positive growth even next year. EU in her autumn forecast predicted that Athens in 2014 will have economic growth of 0.6%, and the Greek economy will then sink in about one fifth of the level before the outbreak of the crisis ...
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