Economy of Greece

The Greek government agreed to primary surpluses of 3.5% until 2018, the head of the IMF’s European branch, Poul Tomsen and chief economist of the Fund, Maurice Obstfield write in an article posted on the organisation’s website:

The Greek bourse began the week with mixed results at the end of the session as investors await the resumption of the bailout review. Stocks were split between winners and losers, but the benchmark was up at the close, having recovered all the day's losses in the closing auctions.

The Hellenic Financial Stability Fund has rejected former Piraeus Bank chief executive Anthimos Thomopoulos's candidacy for his old post, opting instead to propose Christos Papadopoulos and Stelios Papadopoulos (who are not related) for the position at the lender of which the bank bailout fund controls 26 percent.

The drop that most Greek stocks posted on Friday after four days of growth took the main index back to where it was at Wednesday's close, though both the benchmark and the banks indices chalked up significant gains over the week, rising 4.26 percent and 9.84 percent respectively.

In the latest development, the European Commission spokesperson on Financial Affairs, Annika Breidthaerdt said in a press briefing that the European Commission was unaware of the details of the Greek PM’s announcements, responding to a question by protothema.gr.

The fourth consecutive session of gains at the Greek bourse took the benchmark to a new six-month high on Thursday as the market is hoping Greece will eventually be accepted into the European Central Bank's bond-buying program.

The central shopping window of the Ianos bookstore in Athens was smashed by a group of around 10 people on Thursday.

Reports said that some of the attackers entered the bookstore on Stadiou Street and hurled books from the shelves to the floor before running off as police began to arrive.

No customers or staff were injured in the incident.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schauble said that imposition of harsh measures by the Greek government was “an inescapable road from the moment Greece decided to remain in the Eurozone”, during a speech at the EcoFin meeting in Brussels.

The variety of ways in which the Eurogroup decisions on Monday were assessed led to a variety of trends among investors during Tuesday's bourse session at Athinon Avenue. Eventually the buyers outweighed the sellers, but only at the closing auctions.

Monday's decision at a Eurogroup meeting in Brussels to approve short-term debt relief measures for Greece was a "decisive step towards stabilizing the Greek economy and restoring trust," the government spokesman said on Tuesday.