Economy

Optima Bank said its 2022 profits quadrupled to reach 42.4 million euros, with all figures (deposits, loans and profits) recording a big increase in the first months of 2023, the bank's management said during a general shareholders' meeting on Thursday.

National Bank (NBG) intends to place emphasis on the financing and support of small and medium-sized enterprises, which make up the largest part of the Greek economy and proportionally have the lowest loans from the banking system, alongside the digitalization of its products and services.

Chinese inflation came in flat again in May, official figures showed on June 9, as the country's economy sputters owing to softening demand and falling exports, leading to calls for a rate cut and a bigger government stimulus.

The consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.2 percent on-year, from 0.1 percent in April, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), said.

In the first major financial crisis of the 21st century which erupted in 2007-2008, and whose tsunami reached Europe's shores in 2010, five European countries failed to avoid bailouts: Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Cyprus and, in part, Spain. Of these, only one, Greece, had twin deficits - in its current account and its budget.

Greek stocks contained their growth on Friday, giving up most of their mid-session growth, but the benchmark still ended higher.

The National Assembly has unanimously endorsed a bill to extend a mechanism whereby the government can screen potentially risky foreign direct investment (FDI). However, investors from EU countries will now no longer be deemed foreign.

The United States has charged two Russian nationals in the hack of collapsed cryptocurrency exchange Mt Gox, one of the world's earliest, biggest and most widely publicized alleged bitcoin heists.

Meta Platforms' Instagram, Alphabet's YouTube, TikTok and Twitter could face regulatory action after European consumer group BEUC complained to the European Commission and consumer authorities that the online platforms allegedly facilitate the misleading promotion of crypto assets.

Eurozone government bond yields edged lower on Friday but were still at the top end of their recent range as investors braced for a European Central Bank policy meeting tilted to the hawkish side late next week.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan won reelection last month despite a battered economy and a cost-of-living crisis that experts say are exacerbated by his unconventional economic policies.

The longtime leader appointed an internationally respected former banker as finance and treasury minister and on Friday named a former co-CEO of a US-based bank as head of the central bank.