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23/3 – After 7 years of austerity, the state in Greece is still overstretched and inefficient, notes SEV in its weekly bulletin on the Greek economy, released yesterday. As it states, general government spending in Greece amounted to 2015% of GDP in 55,4, compared to 54,1% in the EU-28, while based on per capita income, which indicates the ability of society to finance public spending through taxation, it should not exceed 44% of GDP. Only Denmark and Finland, the editors of the bulletin note, have higher public spending, although much more efficient than Greece.

23/3 – Deutsche Bank now holds second place in the investment banking sector in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (JP Morgan is in first place), according to data from Coalition, a company responsible for monitoring the performance of financial institutions.

23/3 – While the European Commission has not yet decided whether to approve state aid to Italy's historic bank Monte dei Paschi, two more Italian banks are seeking help from Rome. These are Banca Popolare di Vicenza and Veneto Banca, which since last week have submitted a request for their precautionary recapitalization by the Italian state.

23/3 – Having secured global primacy, almost a global monopoly, in the mining, exploitation and trade of rare earths, China is expected to face competition from Africa. The development will be significant, as rare earths are metals absolutely essential for the production of high-tech items, such as mobile phones, computers, thin TV screens and enhanced batteries.

As the Financial Times emphasizes in a relevant publication, if African countries begin to produce rare earths, there will be a change in the balance of power in a global market of great economic and geopolitical importance.

23/3 – The Bank of Greece (BoG) was forced to increase the limit for drawing liquidity through the emergency ELA mechanism, for the first time since July 2015, due to the pressures created by deposit outflows.

The ELA ceiling was increased by 400 million euros to 46,6 billion, an increase that according to the Bank of Greece "reflects developments in the liquidity of Greek banks, taking into account private sector deposit flows."

17/3 – The priorities that Greece should set in its reforms for its development are described by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in its report (Going for Growth 2017) with recommendations for its member countries.

The priorities for Greece, according to the OECD, concern the continuation of strengthening social safety nets, reducing regulations in network industries, improving the efficiency of Public Administration, enhancing the efficiency and fairness of the tax system and improving the quality of the education system.

17/3 – On Friday, Standard & Poor's upgraded Cyprus' long-term credit rating to "BB+", from "BB" previously, with a "stable" outlook.

At the same time, the agency affirmed the short-term “B” rating in foreign and local currency and noted that the Cyprus economy will grow by 2,7% in 2017, maintaining growth at levels close to 2,5%. in the period 2018-20224/3 – Greece will need at least 20 years to return to its pre-crisis levels of Gross Domestic Product, Paul Thomsen pointed out, speaking at a conference at the University of Oxford.

The head of the IMF in Europe stressed that Greece will still need many years of assistance from its European partners.

24/3 – Investors seem to be raising serious objections to the sustainability of Portuguese economic policy. Long-term government bond yields are at the psychological limit of 4%. As reported by Deutsche Welle, while Germany is paying less and less for the money it borrows, the corresponding costs for Portugal are constantly increasing. Recently, the Iberian country has been spending 4,3% of its GDP on debt service, more than any other European country.

17/3 – Ratings agency Moody's downgraded Turkey's sovereign credit outlook to "negative" from "stable", citing the continued weakening of its institutions, dealing a new blow to an emerging economy that is struggling to regain investor confidence.

18/3 – After two years of murky negotiations, Gazprom has taken a positive step towards resolving a long-running dispute with the EU’s competition authority. This could allow the Russian giant to maintain its regional dominance in natural gas markets. The preliminary agreement will provide relief to the Russian gas exporter and Moscow, which has been benefiting from its profits for years. It also eases some of the tensions in relations between Russia and the European Union. Gazprom’s profit margins have been squeezed by intensifying competition in its domestic market and tighter regulations in Europe. In the long term, the growing demand for renewable energy will also affect the company, which is dependent on sales of fossil fuels.

18/3 – Chinese rolling stock manufacturer CRRC (China Railway Rolling Stock) has expressed interest in acquiring Bulgaria’s state-owned railway company BZD Holding (Bulgarian State Railways). According to statements by the country’s interim Prime Minister Ognyan Gerdzhikov, CRRC is willing to undertake the refinancing of the heavily indebted state-owned company with 130 million euros and to modernize BZD’s rolling stock with wagons and multiple units worth 170 million. which will be assembled in a new unit Πα24/3 – The naming and identification of the holder of the payment instrument from the first euro is now a necessary condition for transactions using electronic payment instruments, the Ministry of Finance emphasizes in its announcement on the occasion of the activation (on March 23, 2017) of all articles concerning the prohibition of the use of anonymous electronic payment instruments, aiming to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism. Now, as the Ministry of Finance states, the use of non-named and non-identified electronic payment instruments when making transactions is not allowed, while possible exceptions will be considered in the future and after the universal response of providers to the new measure

24/3 – The European Central Bank is putting pressure on City banks considering relocating to mainland Europe after Brexit to transfer key functions, according to Reuters. At the same time, the ECB is ready to facilitate their relocation, promising not to examine each of their risk assessment models, while competition is intensifying among European cities trying to attract the thousands of banking employees expected to leave the City of London in the coming months and years due to Brexit.

25/3 – HRADF ultimately received three offers for 67% of the share capital of the Thessaloniki Port Authority (THPA).

The bids were received today, Saturday, at Kolokotroni Street, where the Fund's headquarters are located, after being sent last night by air from London, where they were deposited at the offices of the investment bank Morgan Stanley, which is acting as financial advisor to the tender.

25/3 – The adoption of economic protectionism could lead to the expansion rather than the contraction of a country's trade deficit, according to a study published by the European Central Bank.

25/3 – The Greek Parliament passed the draft law on investments in next-generation broadband networks, but a study by the European Commission questions the plans and projects of the Greek government. In particular, the study considers that Greece has low chances of achieving the goals of the “Digital Agenda” in broadband by 2020. This conclusion is contained in the evaluation carried out by the company Atenekom GmbH on behalf of the European Commission on the national development strategies of next-generation networks (Next Generation Access-NGA). Furthermore, according to the relevant study, our country ranks last in the EU in terms of its coverage in NGA networks and last in their penetration into households.

26/3 – The trade balance between Greece and Turkey has been reversed from a surplus to a deficit for the first time in decades. Turkey has now fallen to 4th place among the main markets for Greek products, when in 2014 it was in first place, even if only for a short period of time. Greek exports decreased in 2016 by 21% to 1,35 billion euros from 1,71 billion in 2015. The reason is the 25% devaluation of the Turkish lira against the euro in the last year, as well as the multi-year recession of the Greek economy.

26/3 – Non-performing loans fell by 54 billion euros to 921 billion in the Eurozone during 2016, but they remain a very significant problem, especially in southern countries led by Italy, the ECB said. European authorities will decide “soon” on the rescue plan for Monte dei Paschi di Siena, Italy’s third-largest bank, the head of the ECB’s Single Supervisory Mechanism, Danielle Nouy, ​​said yesterday.

26/3 – The value of mergers and acquisitions in which Greek companies are involved, either as targets or as buyers, decreased significantly last year.

The development comes as a result of both the negative economic situation in general and the lack of financing, as well as the fall in the valuations of Greek assets in particular. It is the opposite of the broader trend in Central and Southeastern Europe where the value of these deals increased. However, the number of these transactions in Greece increased as there were several small but valuable deals.

Specifically, according to data from the Ernst & Young (EY) survey, M&A Barometer 2016: Central and Southeast Europe, 33 mergers and acquisitions were carried out in Greece last year, compared to 28 in 2015 and 22 in 2014.

26/3 – The survival potential of the largest British banks in the event of a deep recession, a free fall of sterling and uncontrolled inflation, but also in the event of a decrease in their profitability, will be detected by the new round of stress tests announced yesterday by the Bank of England. Two days before the British Prime Minister activates Article 50 tomorrow, the head of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, called on the country's largest banks to test their resilience in a series of "nightmare" scenarios, consequences of Brexit, without, however, naming it as the cause of the developments.

27/3 – Fraport Greece signed a long-term loan agreement of around 1 billion euros with a consortium of five financial institutions for the concession of 14 regional Greek airports for a period of 40 years. The exact date of the transfer of the airports has not yet been determined but is set, barring unforeseen circumstances, for before Easter. The consortium of creditors includes Alpha Bank, which participates with credits of 284,7 million, the European Investment Bank with another 280,4 million, the Black Sea Trade & Development Bank (62,5 million), the European Bank for Reconstruction & Development (186,7 million) and the International Finance Corporation (154,1 million), a subsidiary of the World Bank.

27/3 – The first two months of the year recorded a primary surplus of 2,135 billion euros, compared to a primary surplus of 2,853 billion euros for the same period in 2016 and a target for a primary surplus of 864 million euros.

The amount of net state budget revenues amounted to 8,343 billion euros, showing an increase of 209 million euros or 2,6% compared to the 2017 budget target, a development due to the higher dividend that the state received from the Bank of Greece.

27/3 – The 20 largest European banks hid almost a quarter of their profits in tax havens in 2015, that is, about 25 billion euros. Also, for 383 million euros of this 25 billion euros, they did not pay any tax. The relevant data are reported in a study by the international organization Oxfam International. These financial institutions, for every four euros they earn, record one in the accounting books of their subsidiaries in countries such as Bermuda, the Isle of Man, Ireland, Luxembourg and Monaco, among others. According to Oxfam, its research into the banking sector of the European Union shows only on a very small scale the damage caused worldwide by the abuse of favorable tax systems.

28/3 – The European Court of Justice has imposed sanctions on the largest Russian oil company Rosneft, whose CEO is Igor Sechin, who is considered a close friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin and one of the Russian oligarchs whose name was implicated in the recent removal of former Finance Minister Yuri Ulyukayev. The European Court described its decision as “legal”, but the Russian oil giant, which reacted immediately, considered it “irregular, unfounded and politicized”.

28/3 – An ESM spokesman rules out setting a ceiling on interest rates that would entail contributions from member states, essentially responding to a report by the German newspaper Handelsblatt that talks about freezing interest rates for Greece. However, as the same source clarifies, short-term measures could include extending maturities and a “grace period” on interest payments.

28/3 – The market value of the oil company Saudi Aramco could exceed 1 trillion dollars, economic analysts estimate, after the country's government decided to reduce the company's tax rate from 85% to 50%, in order to attract even more investors, in view of Aramco's entry into the stock market in 2018.28/3 – The domestic car market shrank by 73% in 2004 compared to 2016, the era of the "fat cows", a market that has been hit hard since the beginning of the crisis. The decrease in disposable income is the main factor in the rapid decline in sales of new cars. cars, while the tax hikes on cars and the burden of usage costs, also due to increased taxes and fees, gave the market the "merciful shot". The decline in sales implies, of course, thousands of "lockdowns" and even more job losses.

In particular, according to a study conducted by Deloitte, while in 2004 new passenger car registrations amounted to 289.700, in 2016 they were only 78.900. Sales recorded the largest annual decline in 2012, when they fell by 40,1% compared to 2011.

28/3 - A report by Transparency International highlights the political dimension of the role of the European Central Bank (ECB), emphasizing that the Eurobank used various monetary tools, such as the Emergency Liquidity Facility (ELF) and the OMT program, as leverage to force member states to agree to the conditions set by the troika. Particular reference is made, among other things, to the pressure exerted by the ECB on Greece during negotiations with the troika, with its decision not to accept the country's bonds as collateral, forcing banks to resort to the Emergency Liquidity Facility. "The fact that on the one hand the ECB is part of the troika, together with the European Commission and the International Monetary Fund, and on the other hand it is responsible for monetary policy in Greece, reinforces the political dimension that these technical responsibilities have."

29/3 – Private sector deposits decreased by 750 million euros in February, according to data from the Bank of Greece. At the end of February, deposits from businesses and households stood at 119,07 billion euros, compared to 119,75 billion euros at the end of January and 121,4 billion euros at the end of December 2016. Since the beginning of the year, the decrease in deposits amounts to 2,3 billion euros.

29/3 – European Council President Donald Tusk received from British Ambassador to the EU Tim Barrow the letter from British Prime Minister Theresa May triggering Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty and starting the countdown to the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the EU.

The letter, signed by May at midnight on Tuesday, was delivered to Tusk in person by Barrow in his office. The activation of Article 50 begins the two-year period of negotiations to determine the terms of Britain's exit from the Union.

29/3 – The Eurogroup agreement of May 2016 provides for medium-term debt measures, if needed and if Greece fully implements the program, a representative of the eurozone rescue fund stressed in response to German publications.