European Central Bank

By Chryssa Liaggou

The European Central Bank’s refusal to take any further action to boost growth before next year took a toll on most European markets, with the local bourse seeing its early gains turn into losses on Thursday.

Greece will have to ask for an extension on its bailout program before parliaments in eurozone nations close for Christmas because a new credit line will not be ready in time, a senior euro zone official said on Wednesday.

 By Alexis Papachelas

It is very hard to understand the end game that some people have conjured up in their minds. What is the objective of the adjustment program that has been imposed on Greece?

Opposition SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras on Monday accused the coalition government of stirring "apostasies" over the election of the next president of the republic after the term of incumbent Karolos Papoulias expires in February.

Eurozone finance ministers will discuss in early December conditions for providing Greece with credit when its current aid programme expires, German Finance Minster Wolfgang Schaeuble said on Sunday.

Greece is set to ask for a brief extension to its current bailout and is discussing the possibility of the International Monetary Fund maintaining a prominent role in whatever program will follow, Kathimerini understands.

Loans to the private sector in the euro area, a gauge of economic health, fell year-on-year in October, but by slightly less than in September, the European Central Bank said on Thursday.

The European Union's executive is proposing a 315-billion euro ($380 billion) investment plan to boost the bloc's flagging economy, a scheme whose success will depend on leveraging 21 billion euros in guarantees and seed money to attract private funds.
     

Banca Transilvania, the third-largest bank in Romania, is under discussions to take over the Romanian subsidiary of the Austrian banking group Volksbanken, Volksbank Romania SA, two sources close to the discussions have told Bloomberg.