International Monetary Fund

Employees at the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) have launched a case at the Council of State against the service’s chief, Andreas Georgiou.

The ELSTAT workers are arguing that it was unconstitutional for Georgiou to make them sign confidentiality clauses that forbid them from giving details about the statistics they work with to anyone else, including police and judges.

Cyprus appointed lead managers on Tuesday to arrange its first post-bailout bond, underpinning its ambitions for a swift comeback to international markets just a year after teetering on the verge of bankruptcy.

The Finance Ministry said it had mandated Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs International, HSBC, UBS Investment Bank and VTB Capital to handle briefings for investors.

The International Monetary Fund said Tuesday that Greece has made "significant progress" in repairing its economy, but warned it risked falling behind in reforms needed to make its massive national debt sustainable.

In a report, the IMF said Greek debt is expected to remain high "well into the next decade," peaking this year at an expected 174 percent of gross domestic product.

Greece needs to improve the efficiency of its public sector dramatically to meet fiscal targets and avoid new austerity measures, the International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday.

It cautioned that reform fatigue had set in among the ruling coalition.

By Sarka Halas

Cyprus is preparing a benchmark public debt sale just a year after it was bailed out, which if successful would make it the quickest return to the bond market by a sovereign after a rescue.

The issuer has mandated Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, UBS and VTB Capital to arrange a series of fixed income investor meetings in Europe ahead of the deal.

By Renee Maltezou and George Georgiopoulos

Economist Gikas Hardouvelis was named as finance minister in a cabinet reshuffle on Monday, signaling an intent to keep up a difficult reform drive demanded by foreign lenders funding the country.

According to the final results of the May 25 elections for the European Parliament that came out last week, Golden Dawn (GD) became the third strongest Greek party among the European deputies attracting more than half a million votes and nearly 10% of the national vote. Hence it sent three out of a total of 21 deputies to the new European Parliament.

Jean-Claude Juncker could pull out of the race for European Commission President, according to diplomatic sources.

The former Prime Minister of Luxembourg was pitted as the favorite after his European People's Party (EPP) won the most seats in the European Parliament in May's elections.

The head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Christine Lagarde has ruled out the possibility of becoming the next European Commission President.

Cypriot gross domestic product contracted by 0.7 percent in the first quarter of 2014, a slight improvement on the 0.8 percent drop in the previous three months, the latest official estimate showed on Friday.

The figure is the same as given in a flash estimate by the state statistical service on May 15.