On the abolition of the visa requirement for Greeks wishing to travel to the US announced by Washington on Tuesday, main opposition New Democracy(ND) spokesman Panos Panagiotopoulos said that ND considers this a positive development, and cited an announcement issued earlier in the day by ND former foreign minister Dora Bakoyannis's office outlining all the actions taken under the preceding government of Costas Karamanlis up until June 2009 when the relevant agreements for the process of Greece entering the US Visa Waiver Program were signed.

Prime Minister George Papandreou will meet on Tuesday with US President Barack Obama in Washington. Earlier, Papandreou will hold talks with with the Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi at the Capitol.

New Democracy (ND) party leader Antonis Samaras, addressing a party event on Monday, on the occasion of World Women's Day, criticised the government for its handling of the economy, while also referring to his party's five-year tenure.

Commissioner Barnier said that the preliminary examination over Greece’s agreement with DT on OTE shows that the deal is not in full compliance with the EU public offer directive.

The issue has a five year maturity, with a ten years extension option, and was priced at 250bps above the ECB benchmark rate.

Sales came in at €25.3m, up 10% y-o-y. Income from trading increased 22.8%, to €4.9m, while revenues from clearing and settling grew 25%, as both value of transactions and traded volumes increased y-o-y.