European Central Bank

The International Monetary Fund has said it is ready to extend its financial support for Greece.

"We stand ready to continue supporting Greece, and look forward to discussions with the new government," IMF chief Christine Lagarde said in a statement on Monday, according to The Financial Times.

The euro hit its lowest level against the US dollar in more than 11 years on Monday following the victory of radical left SYRIZA party in Greece's elections that has ignited fears the country might exit the eurozone.

The euro and European shares and bonds shook off worries yesterday over Greek election winner Syriza's pledge to take on international lenders, a strong sign of confidence in the ECB's new money-printing program.

Weakness in European shares lasted only for about two hours, although the main Athens index fell and Greek bond yields rose.

Leftist SYRIZA party is to win 149 out of 300 seats in Greece's Parliament following early elections held Sunday, two seats short of a majority, according to official results cited by Greek news websites.

The figures show a total of seven parties have made it into Parliament, though this has to be confirmed by the electoral commission of Greece.

I always dismissed arguments that the eurozone?s time as an economic power was up, pointing out the strengths of the common currency area. But I finally realized that I have been wrong all along.

Leader of Greece's leftist SYRIZA party Alexis Tsipras has spoken to a cheering multitude in Athens following results of exit polls which give him a clear victory over ruling New Democracy.

Greece's snap parliamentary elections on Sunday could bring to power Europe's first radical leftist government, polls have shown.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Friday she wanted Greece to "remain part of our story", ahead of elections this weekend which could sweep the anti-austerity Syriza party to power and determine whether the country stays in the eurozone.
 

The European Central Bank (ECB) will buy EUR 60B in assets per month from March 2015 until end-September 2016 to stimulate flagging economic growth in Europe, the bank's President Mario Draghi announced on Thursday.

The European Central Bank on Thursday committed to a quantitative easing (QE) program that will see it print money to buy up 60 billion euros worth of sovereign bonds from March until the end of September next year.

The money will include some from existing programs.