Economy of the European Union

Bulgaria has the second highest death rate in the European Union after Romania in terms of road traffic fatalities. In 2019, the road deaths rate in the country was 89 per one million people. The average figure for the European Union is 51 road deaths per one million people.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) stands ready to participate in bond issues and other investment initiatives by local business groups in Greece, with its total investment, after the implementation of initiatives in response to the coronavirus crisis, expected to exceed 4 billion euros.

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.

The Association of Romania's Privately Managed Pensions (APAPR) has recently asked for the Eurobonds issued by Romania to be included in the European Central Bank's (ECB) procurement programme for euro area countries.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) on June 10 said it will support the growth of small businesses in Turkey, especially ones led by women.

The bank will be joined by the JPMorgan Chase Foundation, which became the first private-sector philanthropic organization to co-finance grants for EBRD.

The Eurogroup council of eurozone finance ministers will on Thursday consider suspending Greece's obligation to achieve a primary budget surplus of 3.5% of gross domestic product.

The European Commission has presented a report on the progress of non-Eurozone countries towards the adoption of the euro.   EC Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis said there was encouraging progress in some countries.

The Greek state is expanding its cash reserves by 3 billion euros - to be used for battling the new crisis stemming from the coronavirus pandemic and to support the Finance Ministry's fiscal measures - after Tuesday's 10-year bond issue; in terms of the amount drawn, this was the biggest since 2017, when Greece had also raised €3 billion, through a five-year bond issue.

The coronavirus crisis will shrink the global gross domestic product by 5.2% in 2020. For the Bulgarian economy, the forecast is a decline of 6.2% for 2020 and a recovery next year to a growth of 4.3%. This is data indicated in the World Bank's Global Economic Prospects reports.