International Monetary Fund

Romania's success in securing a loan from international markets is proof that it managed to gain the trust of investors in a very important year and I hope that the rating agencies take this into consideration, Finance Minister Florin Citu told Radio Guerrilla on Thursday morning.

Greece's economy will end up among those hardest hit by the pandemic, according to the estimates of international organizations' recently published reports.

Greece's privatization agency (TAIPED) said on Tuesday that it has shortlisted seven investors for the purchase of a majority stake in the country's dominant gas supplier, DEPA Commercial.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has downgraded its estimates of Romania's economic developments in 2020 as a result of the crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic, according to the bank's latest Regional Economic Prospects published on Wednesday.

Turkey is conducting talks to establish swap lines with members of G20, with more than one swap line possible, said the country's treasury and finance minister.

"We are doing one-to-one swap negotiations with G20 countries with which we have a trade deficit and a free trade agreement," Berat Albayrak said in a closed-door online meeting with international investors.

Turkish Treasury and Finance Minister Berat Albayrak has ensured international investors that Turkey's reserves are sufficient and Ankara has been holding swap line talks with other countries.

Romania's economy is projected to contract by 6% in 2020 after many years of robust growth, whereas the general government deficit is forecast to increase to around 9.2% of the GDP in 2020, according to the European Economic Forecast - Spring 2020, published by the European Commission (CE) on Wednesday.

The Finance Ministry's estimates about the impact of the coronavirus on the Greek economy this year are at the optimistic end of the range of projections expressed to date and near those of the Bank of Greece, according to the Stability Program Athens submitted to the European Commission last Thursday.

Against the dramatic forecasts for fiscal figures to slump to levels reminiscent of the worst years of the debt crisis, there is also optimism within the government that things will actually turn out to be rather better.

Half of the world's countries have asked the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bailout amid the coronavirus pandemic, the global body's head Kristalina Georgieva said late on April 15.

"This is an emergency like no other," she said in an interview with CNBC, adding that the IMF is providing funding on the basis of rapid assessment of conditions in every country.