THE Greek
crisis will not have a direct impact on shipping companies, Morgan
Stanley's New York-based analyst Fotis Giannakoulis said ahead the
national referendum.
Mr
Giannakoulis based his argument on the fact most shipping companies with
offices in Greece are not incorporated in the country, reported London's Tanker
Operator.
The Morgan
Stanley report said that the closure of the Greek banks would not have a major
effect on the shipping companies, as most keep money in non-Greek banks.
But the
shipping companies would not be spared from an overall impact of the country's
economic downturn on the global economy, he warned.
Greek owners
make up 20 per cent of the global commercial shipping fleet and the industry
has been a major profit source for the country, as it accounts for around 7.5
per cent of the Greek economy.
There's an 85
per cent chance that Greece will be forced to stop using the euro, Allianz
economist Mohamed El-Erian told Bloomberg.
Said Mr
Giannakoulis: "From our extensive discussions with several management
teams during the last few years, we understand that all shipping companies keep
their cash deposits in international banks, facing effectively no risk from the
capital controls announced.
Said Hartland
Shipping economic research chief Nigel Prentis: "It's hard to see how the
Greek shipowners should be affected or how world trade should be affected.
They're operating offshore assets in tax-free environments."
Earlier, the
country's lenders had asked the Greek government to increase the tonnage tax
rate and phase out the shipping industry's special tax treatments, according to
Reuters.
Based on the
tax system currently in place, shipping companies are enjoying lucrative tax
breaks, which allow them to pay a voluntary amount.
The aim of
this tax concession was to keep owners in Greece. The concessions included no
taxes on profits from shipping operations, and no taxes on ship sales, Reuters
said.
Source :
HKSG.
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