Euro

BELGRADE - Public debt crisis is inevitable unless a solution to the issue of public companies is found, Nikola Altiparmakov of the Fiscal Council stated on Tuesday.

Greece's borrowing costs in a short-term debt sale have tumbled, days after the country returned to the international bond markets.

The interest rate on a 13-week treasury bill issued Tuesday fell to 2.45 percent, compared with 3.1 percent for a similar issue last month, according to the public debt management agency.

Foreign direct investment in Bulgaria for January - February 2014 increased by EUR 114.1M or 0.3% of GDP, according to Bulgaria's National Bank preliminary data.

Foreign direct investment in Bulgaria for February 2014 increased by EUR 41.3M, compared to an increase of EUR 152.5M for February 2013 which is a drastic decline of 72.9% on an annual basis.

“Over one third (36.2 per cent) of business representatives did not report bribery because they consider there is no need to report bribery, as it is common practice to pay or give gifts to public officials,” UNODC said in a statement.

Greece was one of the few markets in which yields rose on Monday, as investors booked profits on the strongest bond rally in the eurozone this year.

Ten-year yields added 16 basis points to hit a day’s high of 6.47 percent on Monday.

European Central Bank (ECB) funding to Greek banks fell further in March, according to figures released by the Bank of Greece on Monday.

Stefan Riecher & Rainer Buergin

Mario Draghi’s patience with the euro has snapped.

“The strengthening of the exchange rate requires further monetary stimulus,” European Central Bank President Draghi told reporters in Washington on April 12. “That’s an important dimension for our price stability.”

Greece's central government posted a primary budget surplus, before interest payments, of 1.6 billion euros ($2.22 billion) in the first quarter, widening by more than three times from the same period last year, Deputy Finance Minister Christos Staikouras said on Monday.

In February 2014, seasonally adjusted industrial production rose by 0.2% in the Euro area and by 0.4% in the EU, according to estimates from Eurostat.

Many Greeks voted out of fear in the back-to-back 2012 general elections. They did so to keep the country afloat, in the eurozone and safe from calamity. Now, thanks to their votes and the efforts of Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, those fears have abated.