Economy

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

Greek government debt bought by the European Central Bank to help Greece during the sovereign debt crisis cannot be restructured, ECB Executive Board member Benoit Coeure said in an interview with France 24 radio station.

Currency again loses ground despite intervention

BELGRADE -- The Serbian dinar (RSD) dropped 0.3 percent against the euro (EUR) on Friday, the National Bank Serbia (NBS) has announced.

This happened despite the NBS selling EUR 30 million in the Interbank Foreign Exchange Market (IFEM) on Thursday.

Prime Minister Victor Ponta on Thursday said Romania could negotiate a new type of arrangement with the International Monetary Fund once its standby aid deal expires this year.

"First of all, we want to conclude the current agreement. After that, there are two options: to have no arrangement, or to agree on a flexible credit line, as Poland has," Ponta said.

KPMG Bulgaria will be fined BGN 100 000 due to major shortcomings and discrepancies in the audits of the Corporate Commercial Bank (KTB, Corpbank).

Environmental activist group Sea Shepherd said Jan. 9 it has been chasing a "poaching" ship for three weeks amid heavy ice flows in an attempt to stop the crew from illegal fishing in the Southern Ocean.

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.

Local stocks failed to hold on to early gains at the Greek bourse on Thursday, as sellers proceeded to take the benchmark down to levels unseen since November 2012.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 761.66 points, giving up 2.06 percent from Wednesday?s 777.70 points.

The large-cap FTSE/ATHEX 25 index contracted 1.84 percent to end at 244.36 points.

Romania may negotiate a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) similar to the one in Poland, of a flexible line type or no longer close a new deal, with a decision to be made after the current agreement is finalised, Prime Minister Victor Ponta told a conference hosted by the Public Finances Ministry on Thursday.

Photo credit: (c) Cristian NISTOR / AGERPRES PHOTO

The euro hit a nine-year low against the dollar on Thursday as bearish German manufacturing data suggested the European Central Bank may soon move to expand its bond-buying programme to bolster economic recovery.