Dr. Platon Monokroussos, Chief Market Economist, Deputy General Manager, Eurobank Ergasias S.A
HIGHLIGHTS
WORLD ECONOMIC & MARKET DEVELOPMENTS
GLOBAL MARKETS: Taking their cue from the positive tone in Asia earlier today, the majority of European bourses opened higher today supported by the decision of the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) to cut banks’ reserve requirements in an effort to boost liquidity to bolster domestic economic growth.
GREECE: The Brussels Group resumed its meetings on Saturday with IMF Direct of the European Department Poul Thomsen publicly saying that, though the two sides are still away from a final agreement, official discussions have gained some momentum over the last few sessions, a development that gives “reason to hope”.
CYPRUS: Parliament endorsed on Saturday the new corporate and personal insolvency framework, which comprises of five bills and complements a previously adopted (September 2014) bill on foreclosures, paving the way for the successful completion of the 5th review of the program and the release of the next IMF tranche.
SOUTH EASTERN EUROPE
BULGARIA: The current account balance ran a €161mn deficit in February, marking a 17.2%YoY widening.
ROMANIA: The EUR/RON remained range-bound between 4.4050/4.4300 last week. Meanwhile, large payments related to public sector expenditure ahead of the Easter holidays seem to have restored money market liquidity, with short term RON rates dropping sharply.
CESEE MARKETS: Most emerging stock markets closed lower on Friday, but ended the week in the black on expectations that the Fed will not rush to hike interest rates. Adding to the positive tone were hopes about further stimulus measures from Chinese authorities and ECB President Mario Draghi’s comments suggesting that speculation about earlier-than-planned QE tapering is premature. On the flipside, CESEE currencies broadly weakened on a weekly basis on Friday.
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