Off the wire
• President Xi extends good wishes in New Year speech  • Thailand records 113 deaths from road accidents in first two days of New Year holidays  • Top news items in major Kenyan media outlets  • 57 militants killed in military operations: Afghan gov't  • Roadside bomb kills officer, soldier in Egypt's Sinai  • 16 imprisoned in kidney trading case in east China  • 24 Chinese cities on pollution red alert  • President Xi urges new media outlet to "tell China stories well"  • Disney wins copyright infringement case against Chinese companies  • Top news items in major S. African media outlets  
You are here: 　 Home

Greeks divided over euro, snap polls, pessimistic about economy in 2017: survey

Xinhua, December 31, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Greeks are divided over the euro and early general elections, and they are also pessimistic about the country' s economic prospects and their own finances in the coming year, according to a survey published on New Year's Eve.

Some 45.5 percent of respondents in the poll carried out by Kappa Research polling firm for Vima (Tribune) daily wanted Greece to stay in the eurozone, while 42 percent believed that the debt-ridden country would be better off returning to the drachma.

Also, 72 percent of respondents wanted to see the European Union (EU) get stronger, while 26 percent said they preferred its collapse.

Regarding Greece, 65 percent believed that the Greek economy and their personal financial situation would be worse in 2017 than in the outgoing 2016.

On elections, 40 percent called for a snap election, while 46 percent opted to give more time to the current coalition government.

In the event of snap polls, the conservative main opposition New Democracy (ND) party would win by a wide margin, according to previous surveys. Endit