Severe weather has brought on a score of transportation problems in northern Greece where the temperatures in many regions have fallen below the zero mark. Cars are required to be equipped with anti-ski chains, while a jeep with four passengers was rescued at the outskirts of Thessaloniki yesterday after having been immobilized overnight.
Many villages remain inaccessible due to the heavy snow fall.
After the Bank of Greece, the country's central bank, reduced its key interest rates by half a percentage point yesterday, commercial banks followed suit with greater reductions in their interest rates as well. National Bank, the largest commercial bank, weighed in almost immediately with a series of loan and deposit rate reductions. Eurobank and the Labor Bank have also reduced their rates. Mr. Holbrooke's visit to Athens is part of his tour of the region. He will be received by Greece's Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos.