Eurozone crisis

Bulgaria's National Bank has disclosed the country's external debt figures, revealing a notable increase in gross foreign debt at the end of February 2024. The total gross external debt stands at over 44.4 billion euros, equivalent to 43.9% of the gross domestic product (GDP). This marks a slight rise of nearly 161 million euros compared to the previous year's end.

The government plans an early repayment of up to €5 billion of bailout loans to eurozone countries this year, two government officials told Reuters on Tuesday.

The eurozone and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) lent Greece about €280 billion during the crisis on the condition that it impose tough austerity measures.

Unemployment, which reached historic highs of 27.2% in 2013, has now fallen to 10%, while the non-performing loan rate in Greek banks has dropped to 7%

Below 120% of GDP debt by 2027 - Praises to government for progress

The Turkish private sector's total outstanding loans received from abroad declined by $394 million from the end of 2023 to stand at $163.4 billion as of February, the data from the Central Bank have shown.

New EU fiscal rules are set to bring about greater relief for Greece but will also demand increased efforts, according to Hungarian economist Zsolt Darvas. 

Bulgarian banks have injected approximately 3.7 billion in additional credit resources into the housing market over the past year alone, with a staggering total of over 8 billion in the last three years, according to Lachezar Bogdanov, chief economist at the Institute for Market Economy, speaking on Nova TV.

Greece's four major banks have until the end of the month to submit their capital plans for the next three years to the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) of the European Central Bank, based on which the request for the distribution of 2023 dividends of 10-30% will be assessed.

Industrial production increased by 1.1 percent in January from a year ago, according to the numbers of the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK).

Mining and quarrying production rose by 4.9 percent, while the annual increase in the electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply was 8.4 percent, TÜİK said on March 12.

Recent data from Eurostat reveals a slight uptick in retail sales across the Eurozone and the European Union in January 2024, marking a recovery from the previous month's decline.