European Central Bank

In the first half of this year, approximately 92.6 million euros were invested in business properties in Bulgaria, according to data from the consulting firm Colliers International. Notably, over 77% of this amount came from a single transaction involving a portfolio of industrial and logistics properties, as well as construction plots.

Dairy products company FAGE keeps losing market share in Greece, but is not losing sleep over it.

With 90.5% of its sales abroad, the Greek market's importance to the company is declining.

Greek-born Charles Marinakis, who hails from Ano Kourouni in Evia, spoke to newmoney about his life, current trends, and future challenges.

With Bulgaria set to adopt the euro, a transitional period will begin, during which prices for goods and services will be displayed in both levs and euros. This dual pricing phase will start one month following the official decision by the EU Council to adopt the euro and will last for 12 months. However, certain items and services will only display prices in euros.

The European Central Bank's cautious monetary policy will be partly responsible for the eurozone's weak economic growth over the next year or two, UK-based research firm Capital Economics maintains.

The firm forecasts growth in the eurozone at 0.7% in 2024, 1.2% in 2025 and 1.1% in 2026.

European authorities continue to place great emphasis on combating financial fraud, as highlighted in a joint report by the European Central Bank and the European Banking Authority on this issue. Although victims of financial fraud, particularly in online transactions, are increasing, the absolute numbers remain extremely small relative to the total number of transactions.

Political instability is hindering Bulgaria's progress toward joining the Eurozone, according to an analysis by the rating agency Scope Ratings. The Berlin-based agency has maintained Bulgaria's credit rating at BBB+ with a positive outlook in both local and foreign currency.

The National Bank posted a significant improvement in profitability in the first half of the year, continuing with strong performance across all sectors.

According to the announcement by the National Bank of Greece :

A weak eurozone economy may drag inflation below the European Central Bank's 2% target, ECB policymaker and Bank of Greece Governor Yannis Stournaras said in an interview published on Thursday, reaffirming his expectation for two interest rate cuts this year.

Eurozone GDP remained in positive territory in the second quarter, but the expansion was limited.

Specifically, according to preliminary data released by Eurostat, eurozone and EU GDP grew by 0.3% every quarter, as well as in the first quarter of the year, keeping expectations low, as it appears it won’t take much to bring the economy back into recession.