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Introducing the budget in Parliament, the official start of the PSI and the approval of the sixth instalment from Eurogroup are the three main priorities of the Ministry of Finance for next week and the goal is to provide the 8 billion Euros from the sixth instalment of the loan from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.
 
During the ceremony of welcoming the new Deputy Finance Minister Yiannis Mourmouras, Evangelos Venizelos said that firstly the goal is to continue financing the country. According to the statement of the Finance Minister all administrative and operational details will be specified by Tuesday. A political confirmation of the decision from 26 October is required.

The Minister stressed that this week the Council of Ministers must approve the 2012 draft budget, after it is first approved by the parties, forming the coalition government, especially in the part regarding public spending. Venizelos stressed that we should strive to submit the budget to parliament if possible by next Friday.

Adoption of the budget is one of the actions necessary for the granting of the sixth instalment of the loan. At an informal Eurogroup videoconference meeting next Thursday, 17 November, the allocation of the instalment is to be approved. Evangelos Venizelos stressed that the approval of the tranche by the Eurozone Member States is essential in order to approve the allocation of funds by the International Monetary Fund, which is expected to meet to discuss the matter on Monday, 21 November.

In addition, the Finance Minister said that the invitation for the PSI contract affecting private investors, who will participate in the write-off of 50 percent of Greek debt in their portfolios,
should be ready no later than Monday or Tuesday.

The next task will be the continuation of negotiations with the Troika for the new programme and new loan agreement, which will be completed by the end of December. Finally, he left the question of possible changes in the contract open by saying: "Few are the things we can improve or change."

The ceremony of reception of the post in the Ministry of Infrastructure, Transport and Networks took place in a relaxed atmosphere last night, despite the previous political conflicts.

 
The position was undertaken by Makis Voridis - the only member of the far-right LAOS party who receives the ministerial chair and Yiannis Mangriotis remains Deputy Minister.

Giving away the ministry after a short mandate, which lasted about five months, Yiannis Rangousis stressed that Greece is going through its most critical period in peacetime.

"The challenges are many and great, but greater are the dangers. For two years the government was doing everything humanly possible to deal with all the difficulties and solve problems accumulated in the country from 1974 to today. We did what we could to pass on Greece to the next generation free from the burden accumulated in the postwar period of the party state and clientele relations. There has been progress, but we have also made some mistakes" said Rangousis, noting that the greatest challenge with the accumulated debt has forced the government to agree to use the forces of opposition and LAOS in order for the party system to develop on a whole new plane.

In turn Makis Voridis stressed that the government of Lucas Papademos is a coalition government that will act within specific frames. It will not have the task of solving major ideological and political issues, because it needs to implement the decisions of 26 October.

During the ceremony of handing over the post outgoing Foreign Minister Stavros Lambrinidis wished success to the new government. Lambrinidis also expressed his satisfaction in giving the position to Stavros Dimas, who according to his words, "has the authority and courage to defend his views," and with whom he had had the honour to work in the past. The outgoing Minister promised to help the new government with whatever he could. For his part, Stavros Dimas said that we should immediately begin efforts to restore the international prestige of the country.

The new Interior Minister Tassos Yianitsis, taking over from Harris Kastanidis, also expressed his willingness to work with all his might in order to achieve the objectives of the new government.

Yianitsis stressed that the government took power in a moment of deep crisis, in order to give hope and provide Greece its rightful place in Europe.

Antonis Samaras: Our opinion on the measures remains unchanged

"Our opinion of the applied policy remains unaltered, it is not a garment that you can just change", said Antonis Samaras last night, noting however, that he supports the transitional government and wishes it success.
 
The New Democracy leader added that his party has met all four targets that it has set, and stressed that he did not want more ministries than those of Foreign Affairs and Defence. "I did not want joint government and all understand why", he said.

The objectives set by New Democracy as Samaras said, are: no to a referendum, the Prime Minister to be replaced, a transitional government to be created, that would unblock the sixth instalment and will conclude the new loan agreement, so elections can be held as quickly as possible.

"Within a few days we achieved our four goals: ultimately the road towards new elections was opened. And this is an arrangement made between the two major parties with a specific date - 19 February", said the leader of the largest opposition party.