Dr. Platon Monokroussos, Chief Market Economist, Deputy General Manager, Eurobank Ergasias S.A
HIGHLIGHTS
WORLD ECONOMIC & MARKET DEVELOPMENTS
GREECE: At its non-monetary policy meeting y-day, the ECB decided to renew its approval for the provision of ELA facility to Greek banks and increased the funding ceiling by just €200mn to €80.2bn, while Greek authorities had reportedly requested a €1.1bn increase.
CYPRUS: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Commission (EC), in liaison with the European Central Bank (ECB), reached a staff-level agreement “on policies that could serve as a basis for completion of the reviews” under Cyprus’s economic reform program.
SOUTH EASTERN EUROPE
SERBIA: Unveiling its updated Inflation Report on Wednesday, the National Bank of Serbia (NBS) revised its 2015 real GDP growth forecast to zero from -0.5% before, leaving its 2016 projection unchanged at 1.5%.
CESEE MARKETS: Emerging stock markets broadly retreated on Wednesday, as caution prevailed ahead of the release of the minutes from the FOMC’s last meeting. Separately, regional currencies closed mixed in view of the US dollar’s renewed strengthening, while government bonds firmed modestly.
