ECB

Greece's 10-year government bond yield touched a new record low on Thursday, a move analysts put down to news that the eurozone bailout fund had waived Cyprus' mandatory repayment obligation of loans.

Outlook

Outgoing European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi says that he was never part of the camp that wanted "to let Greece go" from the eurozone during the deadlock between lenders and the then recently elected SYRIZA party in 2015.

Eurozone finance ministers welcomed Croatia's application to join the currency union, BNT reported.

Yesterday Zagreb filed its official application for entry into the European Monetary Mechanism, known as the "eurozone waiting room". 

For the first time in many years there are no clouds on the horizon for the Greek economy and its prospects are viewed as especially positive.

The climate on the Athens Stock exchange is positive as the general index soared to 900 points for the first time since SYRIZA took office in January, 2015.

This is the first time in years that Greece has experienced such a subdued campaign period.

Just two-and-a-half weeks before the parliamentary election and with New Democracy maintaining a large lead in all opinion polls everyone appears to have accepted what the result will be.

Unemployment has been the lowest since 2008, writes NOVA news.
Inflation in the eurozone dropped sharply to 1.2% in May, according to data released by AFP. Analysts surveyed by the Factset data company predicted a modest fall in inflation to 1.4%, down from 1.7% in April.

The ECB's assessment of six major banks working in the country has to show whether they can resist external as well as internal risks. Stress tests are already running and are due to the demand for Bulgaria to enter the Eurozone waiting room (ERM II mechanism) and the Banking Union, the 24-hour newspaper writes.

In making the decision, the Executive Board was guided primarily by the expected movement of inflation and its underlying factors in the domestic and international environment, the central bank announced on its website.

For the past five years, the European Investment Bank has provided 1.5 billion euros for the Bulgarian economy. Last year alone, the bank provided EUR 103 million in loans for various projects and the European Investment Fund supported eight projects worth a total of EUR 114 million.