Bailout

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.

Bulgaria will receive about 15 billion euros from the EU to tackle the coronavirus crisis, of which 3.3 billion will have to be repaid within 30 years. The rest will be free. This was said to BNT by Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva.

Hundreds of Greek depositors have joined forces against the Republic of Cyprus in demand of compensation over a 2013 haircut on uninsured bank deposits, calling on MPs to push their claim before it goes to international mediation.

Greece's central banker said on Monday he will advise the government to make use of the cheap, long-term credit lines that will be made available by the Pandemic Crisis Support fund of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM).

Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou and other officials on Tuesday marked the 10-year anniversary of the death of three bank employees in a firebomb attack during an anti-austerity riot in downtown Athens.