Economy

The Public Sector is now indebted by 2.4 billion euros more, according the General Secretariat of Public Expenditure, in its research on January and February of 2015 expenditures and balances.

The result is that -now- the total arrears by the end of February is up to 75.7 billion euros, compared to 73.252 billion which it was by the end of 2014.

Romania's centre-left government under Victor Ponta on Tuesday unveiled plans to cut VAT from 24 to 9 per cent for all food products, as well as on non-alcoholic beverages and catering services. The measure will come into force from June 1.

BELGRADE - An increase in public sector salaries and pensions in Serbia is not realistic before 2017, regardless of the fact that the initial results of the fiscal consolidation are good, editor of the periodical Makroekonomske analize i trendovi (MAT) Stojan Stamenkovic said on Tuesday.

The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), the political risk insurance and credit enhancement arm of the World Bank Group, has announced that it will help Turkish Eximbank provide medium- and long-term funds to Turkish exporters.

Yanis Varoufakis spoke with US officials during his weekend visit to Washington D.C. and announced that the Obama administration is ready to become an “honest broker” between Athens and the (EC-ECB-IMF) Institutions.

The International Monetary Fund is willing to be "flexible" with the package of reforms Greece has proposed to its creditors before further bailout funds are disbursed, the Greek Finance Ministry said on Tuesday.

Germany's economy minister said on Tuesday his country was ready to help Greece get back on its feet and stay in the eurozone but it wasn't clear to him how they could keep helping.

"This country (....) is ready to help (Greece) get back on its feet - moreover in my firm opinion in the euro and not outside the euro," Sigmar Gabriel said during a talk at the economy ministry.

The Value Added Tax on food, non-alcoholic beverages and catering services will be 9 percent from June 1, Prime Minister Victor Ponta announced on Tuesday.

Photo credit: (c) Liviu SOVA / AGERPRES PHOTO

Romania's Permanent Electoral Authority, AEP, has confiscated 291,000 lei (65,000 euro) from Monica Macovei, a member of the European Parliament, which came in small donations for her failed 2014 presidential campaign, much of it via PayPal.

Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis will be traveling to Paris on Wednesday, the state-run Athens-Macedonian News Agency reported.

Varoufakis is said to be planning a meeting with his French counterpart, Michel Sapin, as well as with Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Secretary-General Jose Angel Gurria.