Economy

U.S. central bankers face an unenviable task when they gather in Washington this week: Tackling persistent inflation without adding to financial sector turmoil after Silicon Valley Bank's rapid collapse.

The Federal Reserve has raised rates eight times since last year in the face of decades-high inflation as it looks to cool the economy without tipping it into a recession.

The banking crisis that hit Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) last week has spread. We recall with a shudder two recent financial contagions: the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis, which led to a deep Asian recession, and the 2008 Great Recession, which led to a global downturn.

A group of mid-sized US banks has called on US federal regulators to guarantee all their customers' deposits for 2 years, even if they are above the guaranteed deposit limit of up to 250,000 dollars. The aim is to avoid the "phenomenon of contagion" after the bankruptcy of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), reports "Bloomberg", quoted by AFP and BTA.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced on Friday that the government will raise the minimum wage next month, for a third time in little more than a year. 

More specifically, Mitsotakis' conservative administration, whose four-year tenure ends in July, intends to raise the minimum wage by 9.4% to 780 euros per month, beginning April 1.

The management of Alpha Bank is aiming for a 25% increase in profitability in 2023, focusing on paying a dividend to its shareholders in combination with strengthening its capital base and further reducing the nonperforming loan ratio below 7%.

The global cryptocurrency industry has been slammed by setbacks, scandals and high-profile failures in recent months, sparking a regulatory rush to protect consumers from fraud and scams.

An intensive effort by Cyprus' Tax Department in recent months has resulted in rebates of over 70 million euros of excess taxes, with an additional €200 million expected to be paid, according to the head of the department, Sotiris Markides.

He emphasized that the Tax Department aims to clear all outstanding corporate and individual taxpayer rebates by the end of 2023.

Friday's session at the Greek bourse proved to be a bull trap, as after the halfway point the early gains swung to losses and the majority of stocks closed the week with a significant drop - in line with the fall of the Credit Suisse stock in Zurich - in what was the second straight week of prices shrinking at Athinon Avenue.

The increase in the monthly minimum wage by 9.4% as of April 1 "is a far cry from the demands of the poorest of workers and does not allow them to cover basic living needs," the country's biggest private-sector trade union federation has said.

WASHINGTON - The World Bank Board of Executive Directors approved on Friday a 27.7 mln euro loan to support Serbia in its effort to deepen and further develop its capital markets with a Catalysing Long Term Finance Through Capital Markets Project.