Eurozone

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has proposed issuing Eurobonds to finance the EU's defense, an idea which seems to be shared by the South but not by the North. 

Bulgaria's strides towards adopting the euro have garnered recognition and praise from the eurozone countries. A statement issued at the recent summit of eurozone nations commended Bulgaria's efforts on the path to euro adoption and urged continued commitment until all convergence criteria are met.

Greece will this year complete the sale of its outstanding stakes in five banks bailed out during last decade's debt crisis and raise record revenues from state asset sales, its finance minister told Reuters.

Data released by Eurostat reveals a notable deceleration in wage growth across the European Union (EU) and the eurozone during the final quarter of 2023. While the average hourly wage in the EU increased by 3.8%, representing a marked slowdown from the previous quarter, Bulgaria saw a notable rise of 11.9%, according to the latest figures.

Jean-Francois Dauphin, the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission in Bulgaria, has expressed confidence that Bulgaria's accession to the Eurozone by 2025 is a realistic goal. The IMF's assessment comes as part of its regular evaluation of Bulgaria's economic performance, which forecasts a 2.7 percent growth rate for the country's economy this year.

Bulgaria is on track to meet the inflation benchmark required for Eurozone membership by September, according to Finance Minister Asen Vassilev. Speaking at a conference focused on the currency union, Vassilev expressed confidence in Bulgaria's ability to fulfill the necessary criteria within the specified timeframe.

The Bank of Greece has lowered its forecast for this year's growth to 2.3% from 2.5% and is fully aligned with the latest estimates of the European Commission, against the budget's estimate for 2.9%.

The BoG's downgrade, the second since December, followed data on last year's growth, which, while outpacing the eurozone average, came in at a slower pace of 2%.

Eurogroup President Paschal Donohoe confirmed that Bulgaria could adopt the euro in 2025. This statement came following discussions with Bulgarian officials, including outgoing Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov, outgoing Deputy Prime Minister Mariya Gabriel, and outgoing Finance Minister Assen Vassilev.

The European Central Bank must lower borrowing costs twice before its August summer break and two more times before the end of the year, without being swayed by the US Federal Reserve, Bank of Greece chief Yannis Stournaras has said.

ECB should not be influenced by Fed's moves, BoG governor says during London interview - "Real wages will only reach pre-pandemic levels in 2025" - What he said about the possibility of interest rates returning below 2 percent