Economy of the European Union

Yanis Varoufakis appeared confident of finding a new middle ground for a deal with European partners and lenders after his meeting with the Italian FinMin. This meeting basically paved the way for a meeting between the Prime Ministers of the two countries.

By Martin Schulz *

As the dust begins to settle after the Eurogroup agreement extending the loan facility to Greece by four months, it is a good moment to have a look at where we should go from here.

The European Central Bank is considering the possibility of leaving the Troika of Greece's international creditors, according to an article published by Handelsblatt on Tuesday.

The debate on a possible withdrawal reflects concerns within the ECB that its large-scale bond-buying plan, announced in January, could lead to conflicts of interest, says the German business daily.

The government is trying to attach a price to a package of measures to be presented at next Monday’s Eurogroup, while various minsters’ statements on tax issues have created confusion within the country.

Bulgaria registered a 2 % decrease in its unemployment rate in the past year, according to the latest data of Eurostat, which was released on Friday.

In December 2014 the unemployment rate in Bulgaria was 10.8 %, which represents a decrease of 0.2 % compared to the previous month and a drop of 2 % compared to December 2013.

Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov said that although Bulgaria wants to accede to the Eurozone immediately, it realises that it is not fully prepared to introduce the common European currency yet.

Goranov added in an interview for Darik radio on Saturday that this will happen when the other members of the Eurozone agree on Bulgaria to do so.

The new Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis announced on Friday that his government was not willing to continue negotiations with the troika of international creditors.

Varoufakis made this statement during a news conference following a meeting with the President of the Eurogroup Jeroen Dijsselbloem in Athens, daily Kathimerini reports.

Greek banks opeerating in Bulgaria are not threatened by the policies of the anti-austerity SYRIZA party, leading banker Levon Hampartzoumian said.

EBRD: Serbia "on good reforms path"

BELGRADE -- Serbia is on "a good path in reform implementation and has laid good foundations for long-term development."

This is what experts of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) - which predicts a minimal 0.5 percent economic growth for Serbia in 2015 - said on Wednesday.

BELGRADE - Serbia is on a good path in reform implementation and has laid good foundations for long-term development, experts of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) - which predicts a minimal 0.5 percent economic growth for Serbia in 2015 - said on Wednesday.