International Monetary Fund

A fund run by billionaire investor John Paulson has acquired minority stakes in a bank and a water company in Greece, adding to evidence the country was attracting international investors back after a deep six-year slump.

A delegation from the troika of international lenders on Tuesday began its fourth assessment of Cyprus’s economy and troubled banking system to see whether Nicosia is meeting its obligations under the bailout.

A team of inspectors from the Troika of international lenders is back in Cyprus to conclude the fourth evaluation of the country's economic adjustment program.

Nermin Niksic, Prime Minister of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, one of Bosnia's two entities, on May 5 warned that the entity budget faced a crisis due to the cancellation of an expected tranche of IMF money.

The IMF representative to Bosnia, Ruben Ayotan, blamed Bosnia's failure to adopt key laws for the blockage of the cash.

BELGRADE - The level of Serbia's foreign exchange reserves is sufficiently high and the country will not be looking for an arrangement that would imply taking loans, but for a precautionary one, the National Bank of Serbia (NBS) Governor Jorgovanka Tabakovic said on Monday.

"Serbia wants precautionary arrangement with IMF"

BELGRADE -- The level of Serbia's foreign exchange reserves is sufficiently high so it will not be looking for an arrangement with the IMF "that would imply taking loans."

Instead, Serbia wants a precautionary arrangement, the National Bank of Serbia (NBS) Governor Jorgovanka Tabaković said on Monday.

Greek factory activity expanded again in April thanks to the first rise in employment in six years and faster increases in output and new orders, a survey showed on Friday.

Manufacturing activity has veered between contraction and growth since it logged its first month of expansion since mid-2009 in January.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved a USD 17.1 B bailout for Ukraine to help the country's economy.

The loan is dependent on strict economic reforms, including raising taxes and energy prices.

The money will be released over two years, with the first installment of USD 3.2 B available immediately.

Greece said on Wednesday it expected to beat a 2014 budget target set by its international lenders and may tap bond markets again with an issue of between 3 and 6 billion euros to plug any potential funding gap over the next 12 months.

By Derek Gatopoulos

Greece's will achieve better-than-expected budget figures in 2014 year but that unemployment would only decline slowly over the coming four years, the country's finance ministry said Wednesday.