Papandreou offers some tax relief to struggling companies / Greece moves to reassure investors on reform

Report of the annual economic policy speech by Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou at the Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF), 11 September 2010. He talked about the continuing challenges facing Greece as it sought to deal with its debt crisis bound by the conditions of a €110bn EU/IMF bailout deal to rescue Greece from bankruptcy.

Greek unions staged protests in the city against the government's austerity programme at the same time.

Mr Papandreou appealed to citizens to work together to help the country recover from its economic decline.

BBC News, 11.9.10: Greek unions protest against PM's austerity plans http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11271058

BBC News, 10.9.10: IMF releases new 2.5bn euros loan for Greece http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11268867

ESO: Background information: The Greek debt crisis of 2010 http://www.europeansources.info/record/the-greek-debt-crisis-key-sources/

IMF: Press Release, 10.9.10: IMF Completes First Review Under Stand-By Arrangement with Greece and Approves €2.57 Billion Disbursement http://www.imf.org/external/np/sec/pr/2010/pr10335.htm

Deutsche Welle, 12.9.10: Greek prime minister calls for unity to overcome financial woes http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,5996720,00.html

France24, 12.9.10: Unions take to the streets against new government cuts http://www.france24.com/en/20100911-unions-take-streets-against-government-cuts-greece-debt-demonstrations-thessaloniki

BBC News, 12.9.10: Greece PM rules out restructuring of national debt http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11276623

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