Jeroen Dijsselbloem

European finance ministers have agreed on the details of a relatively small investment and reform budget within the euro area, which will start operating in 2021.

The euro zone budget, known as the Budgetary Instrument for Convergence and Competitiveness (BICC), is expected to be finalized next year and start operating in 2021, Eurogroup President Mario Centeno said on Thursday.

Finance Minister Christos Staikouras will present the priorities of the new Greek government at Friday's Eurogroup meeting before sending a letter to the European Stability Mechanism informing Greece's main creditor of Athens' intention to repay some of the loans from the International Monetary Fund ahead of schedule.

The leader of the MeRA25 party Yanis Varoukafis said on Saturday that the fact that former Eurogroup chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem was considered by Europe's 28 finance ministers as a candidate to replace Christine Lagarde as head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was proof that the European Union's establishment has no regard for technical capabilities.

Kristalina Georgieva, the Bulgarian chief executive of the World Bank, has been picked as Europe's choice to lead the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Reuters announced on August 2. Georgieva won the support of 56% of the member states, representing 55% of the population of the EU, reports BNT.

The governments of the European Union, which had given themselves time until the end of July to choose their candidate for the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), have not yet agreed on the name of Christine Lagarde's successor, the French finance ministry reported.

As the International Monetary Fund prepares to choose a new managing director to replace Christine Lagarde, who is to leave the post in the coming months, CNBC has reported that former Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos is among the candidates in the running for the job.

Croatia has filed a formal application to join the European Monetary Mechanism (ERM-2), an early stage on the road to euro membership, also known as the eurozone "waiting room," Reuters reported, quoted by Econ.bg

This was announced on Monday evening by the eurogroup chairman (eurozone finance ministers), the Portuguese finance minister, Māriu Sentenu, quoted by Reuters.

As Athens digests the results of Sunday's general election, eurozone finance ministers will have Greece as one of the main courses at Monday afternoon's Eurogroup in Brussels. This had already been decided last month, as today's meeting intends to send a message to the new government, even if it is struggling to wake up from a night of celebrations.

Greece plans to file a request this week seeking the eurozone bailout fund's consent to the early repayment of expensive loans owed to the International Monetary Fund, a source close to the process told Reuters Monday.

Eurozone finance ministers could grant Greece close to one billion euros in April if Athens completes by then the reforms agreed with creditors, top eurozone officials said on Monday.