Economic growth

Political instability in Bulgaria is likely to mar optimistic forecasts for economic growth next year, said economists from the Institute for Market Economics.

 According to the latest expectations of the European Commission and the International Monetary Fund, the growth of Bulgaria's economy will be around 2.5% - 3% in 2017.

Serbia's growth is strengthening and labor market indicators are showing noticeable improvement, IMF Mission head James Roaf said on Tuesday.

"Ee expect real GDP growth of 2.7 pct in 2016 and 3 pct in 2017," Roaf said, according to Tanjug.

Greece dropped three spots in the Doing Business 2017 chart issued by the World Bank on Tuesday, sliding from 58th place last year to 61st this year out of 190 countries.

Prospects for the Greek residential property market remain particularly gloomy, according to a survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers consultants.

It took just a day of losses for the Greek bourse benchmark to see the gains earned in the previous four sessions wiped out.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed on Thursday at 576.58 points, shedding 1.65 percent from Wednesday's 586.24 points. The FTSE 25 index contracted 2.31 percent to end at 1,524.14 points.

Greek stocks had a mixed day on Tuesday as banks and small-caps declined while mid-caps and the majority of blue chips enjoyed gains, a day after a worse-than-expected result from the Eurogroup meeting in Luxembourg.

APATIN - Increasing the GDP growth rate to three percent and beyond is one of the most significant goals of the Serbian government, Minister of Economy Goran Knezevic said Friday at the ceremonial opening of a wastewater treatment plant at the Apatin Brewery.

September deducted 2.05 percent from the value of the Greek bourse's benchmark as Friday was another day of decline for the majority of blue chips.

Exports have become the main factor of Serbia's economic growth, with household spending playing an increasing role in it.

This is according to Lazar Sestovic, chief World Bank economist for Serbia.

The Greek stock exchange had a mixed session on Tuesday, with the losses recorded during the day all but offset toward the closing bell, while rising stocks outnumbered losers after another drop in trading volume.