The rekindling of the Greek economy will be founded on four pillars, economy, competitiveness and shipping minister Louka Katseli announced on Wednesday, namely through promotion of investments, channeling liquidity to the market, support of the family budget and the advancement of institutional changes to boost transparency and efficiency.

Outlining the government's policy for rekindling the economy in Greece, Katseli said that 6.95 billion euros would be earmarked for 2010 in the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF 2007-2013) for promoting investments and for reinforcements aimed at developing and improving competitiveness.

As for funneling liquidity to the market, she said the arrangement of debts of business concerns and overindebted consumers, revision of the Tiresias (inter-bank list of bad debtors) provisions and European Investment Bank (EIB) programs were being advanced.

On supporting the family budget, the government is advancing a reform of taxation policy, measures to contain high prices, steps to boost competitiveness and consumer protection, monitoring and checks on the markets, and an extraordinary solidarity benefit, the minister continued.

Regarding the fourth pillar, which concerns institutional changes for transparency and better efficiency, measures include utilisation of the NSRF, simplification of the procedures for setting up, licensing and operation of a business, reform of the existing developmental law, enhancing the efficiency of policies aimed at the extroversion of the Greek economy and at attracting investments, and the developmental policy on state procurements, she added.

Katseli said that the PASOK government inherited a very low absorption rate of the NSRF 2007-2013 resources (approximately 800 million euros of the total 26.2 billion euros earmarked in the program), at about 3.07 percent of the total earmarked funds.

The minister stressed that changes will be made to the complex, bureaucratic and concentrative system of management of EU funds, noting that 140 joint ministerial decisions had been required for the materialisation of projects valued at just 800 million euros.

Katseli noted that 16 billion euros in NSRF funds are available for investments up to 2015, adding that 10.3 billion euros of that sum will be channeled via the public investments program in 2010, representing an 8.42 percent increase over 2009.

At the same time, she continued, expenditures for productive restructuring and new investments will be redistributed, with the focus on green development and competitiveness.

Further, the developmental law will be reformed in the immediate future, while the approximately 2,000 investment proposals currently hanging will be assessed.

Katseli also said that she will commence meetings and consultations with other ministers next week as well as with the peripheries for the formulation of the new policy priorities and redistribution of the available resources in the direction of green growth and entrepreneurship.