Fiscal policy

In an article titled "Who's Unreasonable Now?" Paul Krugman, one of the world's best known and most acclaimed economists, comments on the recent political developments in Greece and the Greek government's decision to put an end to the "debt haircut" chorus.

Bulgaria's Finance Ministry on Monday forecast a budget surplus for January equivalent to 0.1% of the Gross Domestic Product planned for the year.

The expected surplus of some BGN 85M will be the first recorded in the month of January since 2009, the Finance Ministry said in a statement.

The foreign currencies reserves of the National Bank of Romania (BNR, the central bank) stood at 30.6 billion euros on January 31, down 1.6 billion from 32.2 billion euros at end-December, according to data released on Monday by BNR. The outflow included payments to the European Commission and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

BELGRADE - The first results of fiscal consolidation have been unexpectedly good, Serbia's Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic has said, stressing that there will be no new austerity measures.

It means that the financial situation in Serbia is improving, mostly because of higher responsibility in the work of the government, he told TV Pink on Friday.

BELGRADE - Serbia's budget deficit totaled RSD 176.4 billion in 2014, while on the monthly level in December it reached RSD 26.9 billion, show the preliminary data of the Ministry of Finance.

It is no secret that the top priority of the new Greek government will be to negotiate a reduction in the country?s debt ? as well as to broker softer terms on the austerity conditions forced by its creditors.

BELGRADE - The budget deficit amounted to 6.6 percent of GDP in 2014 and was significantly lower than planned, which is also due to fiscal consolidation measures, Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said on Sunday.

BELGRADE - The Standard & Poor's (S&P) credit rating agency has affirmed Serbia's BB- credit rating with negative outlook, the Public Debt Administration of the Ministry of Finance announced on Tuesday.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble reiterated on Wednesday that whoever wins the upcoming election in Greece will have to stick to a path of austerity.

"The election won't change the basic conditions," Schaeuble said in an interview broadcast on N-24 television.

By Alexis Papachelas