Currency

South Korea and Japan shared "serious concerns" on the recent weakness of their currencies against the dollar and agreed to take "appropriate actions" to counter extreme volatility, the finance ministry in Seoul said Wednesday.

BELGRADE - Serbia's public debt rose by 26.3 bln dinars to 4,268.1 bln dinars (36.4 bln euros) in February, accounting for 47.8 pct of GDP.

According to figures released by the Public Debt Administration of the Serbian Ministry of Finance, foreign currencies accounted for 77.7 pct of the total public debt at end-February.

Amid a strengthening dollar fueled by robust U.S. economic indicators, the Japanese yen tumbled to its lowest level in 34 years. On Tuesday, the U.S. dollar surged to 151.97 yen, surpassing the previous multi-year peak set in October 2022. This surge has triggered concerns over Japan's currency stability, prompting Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki to hint at potential intervention.

Gold has surged to unprecedented levels, buoyed by its reputation as a safe haven amidst anticipation of an imminent reduction in US interest rates, as per a report by AFP. Around 1:30 PM GMT, the price of gold soared to USD 2,141.79 per troy ounce, eclipsing its previous high of USD 2,135.39 recorded in early December.

Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek has ruled out scenarios regarding the real depreciation of the Turkish Lira after the upcoming local elections.

"We do not have an exchange rate target. We are implementing a policy set which makes the lira attractive," Şimşek said in a televised interview on March 4.

The Finance Ministry and tax authorities are preparing to create a framework for the taxation of cryptocurrencies, with the establishment of the relevant committee being the first step. The difficulties mainly concern monitoring trade, as those who sell cryptocurrencies are unknown. At the moment the focus, until rules are put in place, is on the fight against money laundering.

The course of GDP and private consumption in the main Greek tourism source markets is expected in 2024 to fluctuate at the same levels as in 2023.

At the same time, the prices of energy products, transport costs and inflation in general are expected to follow a downward course, while the euro will fluctuate at competitive levels in relation to the main international currencies.

FRANKFURT - The euro is not a legal tender in the so-called Kosovo as Pristina unilaterally adopted it as the de facto currency in 2002, the European Central Bank (ECB) website says.

It notes that Montenegro, which is also not an EU member, did the same in 2002.

The case for Europe has always rested on solving problems that countries could not address alone. After the Second World War, visionary leaders understood that the only way to secure peace on our continent was to unite our economies. And a united Europe would, in time, require a single currency to make the most of the economic benefits created by this peace dividend.

The Central Bank has said that it will maintain its reserve build-up strategy and ensure continuation of the stable uptrend in international reserves in 2024.