Economy of the European Union

 Hardouvelis cautions against clashing with the creditors and cites the main problems Greece may face

By Sotiris Nikas and Roula Salourou

Greek consumer prices fell 2.6 percent in December, with the annual pace of deflation accelerating from a 1.2 percent drop in November, data from the country's statistics service showed on Tuesday.

Greece's EU-harmonized deflation rate also picked up, showing a 2.5 percent fall in December from a 1.2 percent drop in November.

If the current government remains in power after the January 25 elections it would negotiate for part of Greece's debt, currently at around 170 percent of GDP, to be transformed from a floating to a fixed rate, Finance Minister Gikas Hardouvelis said on Monday night.

Amid uncertainty about Greece's political future, tourism chief Andreas Andreadis insists that the country's tourism sector is on course for another strong year.

By Lukanyo Mnyanda

The euro declined against the dollar, approaching a nine-year low, on speculation reports this week will strengthen the argument for sovereign-bond purchases from the European Central Bank.

Greece's central bank said on Sunday that the situation with deposit outflows from the country was under control, as it tried to reassure markets ahead of a Jan. 25 snap election.

Greek media have reported that there have been significant deposit outflows in recent days due to political uncertainty two weeks ahead of early elections.

BELGRADE - Serbia's dinar dropped 0.3 percent against the euro on Friday, despite the National Bank Serbia (NBS) selling EUR 30 million in the Interbank Foreign Exchange Market (IFEM) on teh day before, and set the official exchange rate at RSD 122.6603 per one euro, the NBS said in a release.

Greek 10-year bond yields dropped to 10.08 percent on Friday after climbing as high as 10.8 percent on Thursday, the most since September 2013.

Investor concern that Greece will miss debt payments is reflected in three-year yields that are more than three percentage points more than those on 10-year debt.

Romania's exports reached 48.7 billion euro in the first 11 months of 2014, up by 6.5 percent, whilst imports recorded 54 billion euro, by 6 percent higher compared to January to November 2013, according to the data released on Friday by the National Statistics Institute (INS).

Photo credit: (c) Alex MICSIK / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

By Stathis Kousounis

Fluctuating foreign currency rates may affect the number of tourism arrivals in Greece this season to a greater extent than in the last few years, according to the president of the Hellenic Hotel Federation, Yiannis Retsos.