Bailout

Sri Lanka must not allow entrenched corruption to undermine a bailout for its bankrupt economy, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said yesterday after signing off on a $3 billion loan for the crisis-hit nation.

The IMF approved its long-delayed rescue program on March 20 after China, the South Asian nation's biggest bilateral lender, offered debt relief assurances.

Maybe it was not necessary for the Silicon Valley Bank and Credit Suisse debacles to come along for the winds of uncertainty to blow in the global economy.

They had already been stirred by the war in Ukraine, the energy crisis, and a rise in inflation in the eurozone.

In a landmark ruling Slovenia's top court has abrogated a law that required the Slovenian central bank to compensate those who lost their investments during the banking sector bailout of 2013, when roughly tens of thousands of holders of shares and junior bonds were completely wiped out.

Christos Staikouras was named Finance Minister of the Year 2023 for Europe by The Banker magazine of the Financial Times group, whose awards celebrate the officials that have best managed to stimulate growth and stabilize their economy.

The Bank Assets Management Company (BAMC), Slovenia’s bad bank, will be wounded up come the new year, less than a decade after playing a key role in a major bank bailout. Its remaining assets, estimated at half a billion euros, will be transferred to Slovenian Sovereign Holding (SSH), the state assets custodian.

Greece has repaid its outstanding debts dating back to its financial crisis to the International Monetary Fund, two years ahead of schedule, the country's finance minister said on April 4.

Christos Staikouras hailed the payment as "a very positive development" that would mean significant savings in debt servicing costs.

The Chief Executive of Greece's bank bailout fund (HFSF), Martin Czurda, submitted his resignation on Monday, after a little more than three years at the post.

The reasons behind the Austrian's resignation were not mentioned, but sources attribute it to his poor relations with the government.

Greece has filed a request to the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), the eurozone's bailout fund, seeking its consent to pay back earlier expensive debt to the International Monetary Fund, government officials said on Wednesday.

The country has received three international bailouts from the eurozone and the IMF worth 280 billion euros since 2010.

Eurozone finance ministers will start on Thursday a month-long process of choosing their next chairman to replace Portugal's Mario Centeno who will step down in July, with ministers from Spain, Luxembourg and Ireland among possible candidates.

Future eurozone bailout programs should aim more at restoring economic growth rather than focusing mainly on fiscal tightening, and their length should be set accordingly, an independent report commissioned by the bloc's bailout fund said.