Economy of the European Union

By Jack Ewing

FRANKFURT, Germany — The president of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi, said Wednesday that countries in the eurozone should be compelled to take steps to improve the performance of their economies in the same way that they are already required to observe rules on government spending.

Greek consumer prices fell 1.1 percent in June, with the annual pace of deflation decelerating from a 2 percent fall in prices in May, data from the country's statistics service showed on Wednesday.

The EU-harmonized deflation rate also slowed down to -1.5 percent in June from -2.1 percent in May, broadly in line with a -1.6 percent rate expected by economists in a Reuters poll.

Neal Armstrong & Leo Laikola

Greece hired banks to sell three-year debt, accessing international markets for the second time in three months, after European Central Bank stimulus measures fueled a rally in bonds across the euro area this year.

Croatia expecting 1.5 billion-euro tourism project

By Sotiris Nikas

Cyprus is considering tapping the bond market by September, according to two government officials directly involved in the process.

One of the officials, who asked not to be identified as no final decision has been made, said the initial offering will be for about 500 million euros and will probably be held after a share sale by the Bank of Cyprus, the country’s biggest bank.

By Jeff Black, Shane Strowmatt & Sonia Sirletti

Europe’s lenders are running out of time to get their books in order before the European Central Bank passes judgment on them.

Drop in value of domestic currency "not dramatic"

BELGRADE -- The drop of the Serbian dinar (RSD) to its record low against the euro this year "is not dramatic," economists told Tanjug on Monday.

They added that "exporters can derive benefits from the lower dinar value."

BELGRADE - The drop of the Serbian dinar to its record low against the euro this year is not dramatic and exporters can derive benefits from the lower dinar value, economists told Tanjug on Monday.

By Sotiris Nikas

The disbursement to Greece of 2.1 billion euros from the profits of the Eurosystem from Greek SMP and ANFA bonds has hit a stumbling block due to timetable changes and different interpretations of existing agreements.