Eurogroup

The governments of the European Union, which had given themselves time until the end of July to choose their candidate for the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), have not yet agreed on the name of Christine Lagarde's successor, the French finance ministry reported.

Kristalina Georgieva receives France's support in determining the next candidate for managing director of the International Monetary Fund, Bloomberg reported.

As the International Monetary Fund prepares to choose a new managing director to replace Christine Lagarde, who is to leave the post in the coming months, CNBC has reported that former Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos is among the candidates in the running for the job.

As Athens digests the results of Sunday's general election, eurozone finance ministers will have Greece as one of the main courses at Monday afternoon's Eurogroup in Brussels. This had already been decided last month, as today's meeting intends to send a message to the new government, even if it is struggling to wake up from a night of celebrations.

President Klaus Iohannis participated on Thursday and Friday in the meeting of the European Council in Brussels, context in which he presented the results of the Romanian Presidency at the EU Council and reconfirmed Romania's firm support for the Eastern Partnership.

The head of the EuroGroup, Jeroen Dijsselbloem disclosed the content of the April 7 Malta EuroGroup agreement between Greece and its creditors. In a letter he sent to the EuroGroup members Mr. Dijsselbloem presented the results of the Malta meeting. With regards to Greece the official meeting covers the following:

4. Greece – State of play

The deal reached at the recent Eurogroup meeting in Brussels has brought Greece very close to the completion of the bailout review, government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos said Wednesday while dismissing speculation of a crisis within the SYRIZA-led administration.

The German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schauble stated on Tuesday to Deutsche Welle TV that “there will be no fourth memorandum for Greece”.

According to him “the aim of the current programme is Greece to tap the markets and meet its financing needs”.

After carefully reading the agreement reached at the recent meeting of the Eurogroup in Malta, I have drawn the conclusion that (either by coincidence or by design) the government that will win the next Greek elections will as of day one find itself in the middle of a minefield.

News from Friday's Eurogroup meeting in Malta untied investors' purse strings in Athens and sent the benchmark to a new 17-month high, ahead of a week expected to offer easy gains given the customary drop in trade as Easter approaches.