European Central Bank

The eurozone's top banks shed some 30 billion euros' worth of unpaid loans in the three months to September, in a new sign that European Central Bank pressure to clean up their balance sheets is bearing fruit.

Greece's central bank said on Thursday it had stopped publishing data on emergency liquidity assistance extended to Greek lenders after the facility dropped below the threshold set by the European Central Bank in 2017.

Representatives of Greeces bailout creditors are in Athens to review progress on measures demanded in return for relief on the country's massive national debt.

Bulgaria ranks 7th in the EU when scale of investments through the Juncker Plan is concerned, according to the Bulgarian National Radio. 

The country has been doing a good job. There is no room for worry, as the projects financed so far would be further supported by Brussels.

This is what European Commission Vice-President Jyrki Katainen told BTA.

Greek banks are set to suffer extra pressure in the coming days, including on their stock prices, after the European Central Bank issued strict guidelines for the reduction of their nonperforming exposures portfolios or their coverage with provisions.

The euro zone's economy is not heading for a recession but still needs support from the European Central Bank as its slowdown could last longer than expected, the head of the ECB, Mario Draghi, has said.

With its benchmark bond yield stuck between 4.3 and 4.4 percent, Greece's cost of borrowing continues to be high, Citigroup warned in a note to clients, following statements by Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos earlier this week about drawing 7 billion euros from the markets.

The government is waiting for the right moment to tap the international markets, Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos told a radio interview on Tuesday, playing down concerns about the permanently high bond yield in the secondary market that is making a new issue impossible.

The end of the European Central Bank's massive stimulus program has left Italy, France and Spain seeking new buyers for up to 64 billion euro ($73 billion) of bonds, ECB data suggests.

That's how much the ECB has "overbought" those countries' debt by, according to Reuters calculations on Thursday based on the bank's end-December stock of eurozone government bonds.

We deserve much better as a country in the new year. It is widely accepted that Greece and its people have been through a lot in the past few years.

The country has paid a high price for the eight-year economic crisis and the three bailout programs signed with the European Commission, the European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund.