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Greece’s population in rapid declineGreece’s population has declined by 360,000 in the last seven years and is projected to drop by a further 770,000 people over the next 12 years if birthrates remain at today’s levels.More ominously, Greece’s population could plummet by up to 50 percent in 35-50 years if nothing is done to tackle the low birthrate, the aging population and the brain drain sparked by the migration of young people to foreign lands in search of a viable career.
Report warns of impact of aging workforceThe aging of Greece’s population will force the country’s governments in the next few years to introduce social security contribution hikes by 35 percent, so that they reach up to 27 percent for the main social insurance from a rate of 20 percent today, and to 8.1 percent from 6 percent for auxiliary social security, according to a new report.Alternatively, the authorities will have to further slash the country’s already low pensions or introduce significant increases to the age of retirement, gradually from 67 years today to 73 years, argues the report by Panteion University academics Savvas Robolis and Vassilis Betsis, which was seen by Kathimerini.
Brexit: Fears over multi-million-pound government contract awarded to company with no ferriesThe government’s preparations for a no-deal Brexit have been questioned after it emerged a £13.8m contract to run extra ferries has been awarded to a company with no ships.Seaborne Freight, which has not previously operated a ferry service, was one of three firms tasked with laying on additional crossings to ease the pressure on Dover.It aims to operate freight ferries from Ramsgate in Kent to Ostend in Belgium, beginning with two ships in late March and increasing to four by the end of the summer.But a Conservative county councillor for Ramsgate said he did not believe it would be possible to set up a new service from the port by the scheduled date of Brexit on 29 March.Paul Messenger also questioned whether the government had carried out sufficient checks on the firm, telling the BBC: “It has no ships and no trading history so how can due diligence be done?“Why choose a company that never moved a single truck in their entire history and give them £14m? I don’t understand the logic of that.”
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Migrants Granted Greek Citizenship After Saving Dozens in Mati FireGreece’s President Prokopis Pavlopoulos will grant Greek citizenship to three migrant fishermen who helped rescue dozens of people from the sea during the deadly fire at Mati last summer.
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Topic: 31/12/18 (Read 1427 times)
