FRANKFURT

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has accused the European Central Bank of holding "a rope" around the country's neck as Athens scrambled on March 6 to avert a looming state default.
      
The ECB "is still holding the rope which we have around our necks," said Tsipras, according to excerpts of an interview with Germany magazine Der Spiegel to appear Saturday.
      

By Stefan Riecher

The European Central Bank kept interest rates unchanged at record lows as investors wait for President Mario Draghi to reveal more details of his 1.1 trillion-euro ($1.2 trillion) bond-buying plan.

Cash-strapped Greece had been hoping that the European Central Bank -- which is about to pump billions into the eurozone economy -- would help ease its torment, but so far the ECB has been markedly reluctant to come to its aid.

These are the key issues over which they are at loggerheads:

The European Central Bank, meeting in Cyprus on Thursday, is set to update its economic forecasts and reveal details of its new bond purchase programme, analysts said.

Greece will also be high on the agenda of the ECB's decision-making governing council, following the recent eurozone deal to extend aid to the debt-wracked country, the experts said.

By Stefan Riecher

The euro-area economy has taken a step in the right direction.

By Stefan Riecher

The euro-area economy has taken a step in the right direction.

Turkey's TAV Operation Services has won the tender to operate the advertisement areas of Carthage Airport in the capital of Tunisia for four years, the company said by a written statement on March 2.

The number of airports whose advertisement areas are operated by TAV Operation Services has now increased to three, the company added.

Greece's international creditors could pay part of the 7.2 billion euros remaining in its bailout pot as early as this month if Athens starts adopting necessary reforms, the head of the euro zone finance ministers' group said.

Bulgaria plans to launch a roadshow for Eurobond sales later this month to raise funds for rolling over maturing debt and financing budget deficit, Reuters has reported.

Greece called into question on Saturday a major debt repayment it must make to the European Central Bank this summer, after acknowledging it faces problems in meeting its obligations to international creditors.