Mário Centeno

The chairman of an EU finance ministers meeting on further support for economies hit by the new coronavirus said on Thursday an agreement among all of the bloc's capitals was now "very close" after previous negotiations collapsed.

The Netherlands was the single opponent of a deal proposed on Wednesday morning after sixteen hours of negotiations.

European Union finance ministers failed to agree in all-night talks on more support for their coronavirus-hit economies and their chairman said on Wednesday morning he was suspending the discussions until Thursday.

The chairman of eurozone finance ministers Mario Centeno said on Wednesday he was suspending talks on half a trillion euro package to support the economy against the coronavirus epidemic until Thursday, to bridge divisions over its elements.

Eurozone finance ministers hope to agree on Tuesday on half a trillion euros worth of economic aid to finance recovery from the coronavirus, a discussion that has sown divisions as the bloc struggles with the outbreak.

Greece has secured full fiscal flexibility in the battle to ease the blow to its economy from the coronavirus outbreak as the Eurogroup conference call that Finance Minister Christos Staikouras (right) participated in on Monday decided to allow all eurozone member-states to take every necessary measure to tackle this growing emergency.

Europe has to grant Greece some fiscal flexibility as the crisis-hit country struggles to deal with both the coronavirus outbreak and the migration crisis, leading economists agree in comments made to Kathimerini. The government expects some good news in this direction next week, but will not be pushing for it.

Eurogroup chief Mario Centeno on Wednesday announced the possibility of exceptions to the strict fiscal rules guiding the eurozone to allow emergency measures for containing the spread and impact of the new coronavirus.

The coronavirus seems to be a "temporary shock" to the eurozone economy but the bloc's member states must be prepared to act in a coordinated way if the impact becomes a more long-lasting one, the chairman of eurozone finance ministers Mario Centeno said.

"It's the new risk and it's obviously a downside risk to our economies," Centeno told Reuters in an interview on Friday.

The head of the Eurogroup Mario Centeno said on Monday he expected the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on the eurozone economy to be temporary.
"We expect it to be a temporary effect," Centeno told reporters in Brussels, adding that the EU should carefully assess developments also for the long-term. [Reuters]

Finance Minister Christos Staikouras presented the government's priorities for 2020 at Monday's Eurogroup meeting in Brussels, mentioning Athens' request for a primary surplus reduction for 2021 and 2022, an issue eurozone sources say will start being debated in the year's first half.