ECB

Analysts are split on when Greece may return to investment grade, in what is seen as a difficult year for the eurozone bond market due to the ECB's aggressive stance, while the national elections are firmly on investors' radars.

Morgan Stanley maintains a "constructive" stance on the Greek economy, expecting a further drop in GGBs and an outperformance of Greek shares compared to the rest of Europe. At the same time, Morgan Stanley is proceeding to upgrade the targets for the shares and the profitability of Greek banks.

Bank of Greece governor Yannis Stournaras sees inflation in the Eurozone peaking this year, predicting a further decline in 2023 before retreating to near the ECB's 2% target next year. As he characteristically stated: "I am optimistic that the monster of inflation will have been defeated by the end of 2024″

Oil fell in early European trading by nearly 2% amid fears of a global economic slowdown and even the risk of an impending recession, which would worsen the outlook for demand for the important energy raw material.

Although debt is higher due to the "shock" of the pandemic, there is no fundamental reason to think of a debt crisis, according to the president of the Central Bank of Portugal, Mario Centeno, in an interview with "NEA", underscoring that the current European institutional framework is stronger and the policies are coordinated, while member states have also taken steps to reduce risk.

The Euro continued to fall on Wednesday, hitting a new 20-year low below US$1.0200 and is on track to reach the cash level (1.0000) soon on growing concerns that Russia may cut off supplies of gas to Europe, contributing to the entry of the Eurozone into recession, which would make it difficult for the ECB to carry out its planned policy of raising interest rates to control record inflation.

"Inflation is struggling with conservative fiscal policy and declining economic growth. It will continue to be high, but it will stabilize and subside. We can raise a percentage of side effects, or two, but the pace is slowing down. We will see a significant reduction in inflation in 2023.

The decision to pay for Russian gas in rubles was intended as a measure against sanctions imposed on Russia. This was explained by the economist Daniel Vassilev on Nova TV. According to him, the sanctions were aimed at destroying the ruble, Russia tried to increase its demand, with a solution that would increase its value.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis travelled to Marseilles on Friday for a mini summit hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron on biodiversity in the Mediterranean, a gathering also attended by ECB Managing Director Christine Lagarde and Hollywood star Harrison Ford, in his capacity as the vice-president of the group Conservation International.

There is a little more than BGN 2 billion in the state, said caretaker Minister of Finance Assen Vassilev, who expressed his strong concern about the little available money in the state.