Economy of the European Union

Greece needs bailout extension to negotiate reforms, says Commission VP

By Jan Strupczewski & Paul Taylor

Greece can choose how to make its public finances healthy and its economy grow, but it must extend its bailout program by a few months to gain time to negotiate those steps, European Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis said.

ECB Lifts Waiver on Greek Govt Debt as Collateral

The European Central Bank (ECB) announced that it would would no longer accept junk-rated Greek government bonds as collateral for regular central bank loans.

The ECB said in a Wednesday statement that it its Governing Council had decided to lift the waiver affecting marketable debt instruments issued or fully guaranteed by Greece.

EC makes 1 bln euros available for the young unemployed (video)

The European Commission proposed to make 1 billion euro from the Youth Employment Initiative available as early as this year. This change will increase by up to 30 times the pre-financing Member States receive to boost youth employment - reaching up to 650,000 young people and helping them get into work, faster.

Interest rates at domestic lenders are still falling

By Evgenia Tzortzi

Interest rates on deposits are continuing to fall at commercial Greek banks despite the credit sector?s cash flow problems. Bank of Greece data showed yesterday that the average interest rate in December came to 1.82 percent, against 1.88 percent in November and 2.61 percent in early 2014.

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