TARGET2

Jan-Feb primary budget surplus 70% higher than expected

The Greek budget posted a primary surplus of 3.401 billion euros in January-February 2024, provisional data showed on Friday on a modified cash basis, against a target for a primary surplus of €1.981 billion (up by over 70%) and a primary surplus of €4.215 billion for the same period in 2023. Tax revenue beat its target by 9.1%.

Surplus of a billion euros in state budget

The state budget balance presented a surplus of 1.093 billion euros in January, compared to a target of a deficit of €82 million that has been incorporated for the same period of 2024 in the 2024 budget introductory report and a surplus of €1.48 billion for the same period of 2023, the National Economy and Finance Ministry said on Monday.

Banks partly wean themselves off ECB

Over the past year, the "big four" Greek banks - Alpha, Eurobank, National and Piraeus - have repaid €31.1 billion of the €50.9 billion they had drawn from the Eurosystem, that is, the European Central Bank and the central banks of the 20 eurozone countries, in the form of loans at favorable interest rates.

ECB ‘could hike rates or pause at next meeting’

The European Central Bank (ECB) could hike interest rates again or pause at its next meeting and any decision will depend on the latest data, president Christine Lagarde has said.

The central bank for the 20 countries that use the euro lifted borrowing costs for the ninth consecutive time on July 28 as it fights stubbornly high inflation.

BoG gov. Stournaras optimistic over defeating the monster of inflation by 2024 end

Bank of Greece governor Yannis Stournaras sees inflation in the Eurozone peaking this year, predicting a further decline in 2023 before retreating to near the ECB's 2% target next year. As he characteristically stated: "I am optimistic that the monster of inflation will have been defeated by the end of 2024″

Pages