Greece

Can the EU bind future governments to promises made by previous prime ministers? It’s a Brussels dilemma that goes beyond the difficulties posed by a certain soon to be departing member state, the Financial Times reported. Greece is also becoming a test case for how the EU can wield control in a country that has escaped its leash in one sense. Athens exited nearly a decade of European bailouts last summer. After receiving hundreds of billions of euros in return for painful and swingeing economic reforms, the country is back borrowing on the debt markets.

Greece cleared a key hurdle toward receiving around 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) in cash for debt relief, as the European Commission said the country has fulfilled all reform conditions required in its latest post-bailout audit, Bloomberg News reported. In a report reviewing Greece’s record in completing the overhauls attached to further aid, the EU’s executive arm paved the way for a final decision to be taken by euro-area finance ministers when they meet in Bucharest, Romania, later this week.

The Bank of Greece warned Monday that the country is likely to miss its 2019 growth target due to mounting international uncertainty and doubts over the government's commitment to reforms, the International New York Times reported on an Associated Press story. Central bank governor Yannis Stournaras, presenting the bank's annual report, said the Greek economy was likely to grow by 1.9 percent this year. That's below the European Commission's forecast of 2.2 percent and Greece's official budget estimate of 2.5 percent.

Less than a year after Greece emerged from a multibillion-euro international bailout, Athens is witnessing an investor boom, the International New York Times reported. Hip new hotels with Acropolis views are dotting the skyline. Construction workers are tearing into dwellings owned by Greeks needing cash and converting them swiftly to short-term rentals, Airbnbs or fancy new homes for foreigners.

European officials sought to quell fears Greece is going off track just months after its bailout ended, talking up the country’s reform drive even though Athens has yet to fulfill the conditions attached to the disbursement of some 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) in debt-relief aid, Bloomberg News reported. The decision to withhold the cash was taken at a meeting of euro-area finance ministers in Brussels on Monday, marking the delay of the first post-bailout payment the country is set to receive as part of a deal struck last year with its European creditors to ease its debt load.

Greece drew strong demand on Tuesday for its first 10-year bond issue since plunging into a debt crisis nine years ago, in a clear vote of confidence from markets in its economic revival days after securing a two-notch ratings upgrade, the Irish Times reported. It raised €2.5 billion from a sale that drew offers worth €11.8 billion, it said in a regulatory filing. The yield was set at 3.9 per cent, a slim premium judged by the secondary yields of outstanding Greek bonds and down from initial guidance of 4.125 per cent. The coupon was 3.875 per cent.

In the first half of this decade Greece almost crashed out of the eurozone, or faced having its membership suspended, in a process known as Grexit, the Financial Times reported. With the UK one month from its scheduled withdrawal from the EU, and no one sure what will actually happen, what lessons does Grexit hold for Brexit? George Papaconstantinou published an article on this subject last week on ING bank’s website. As Greece’s finance minister from October 2009 to June 2011, he was at the centre of events during the early phase of his nation’s sovereign debt crisis.

Greece’s foot-dragging on some key economic reforms is raising creditor concern, putting at risk a planned debt relief measure next month and a rebound in its stock and bond markets, Bloomberg News reported. A report by the country’s creditors due on Wednesday will likely show that Greece has yet to fully comply with a list of 16 pending reforms, European Union officials said. Unless it rushes to complete them before a meeting of euro-area finance ministers on March 11, the cash disbursement will probably be delayed, according to the officials.

Greek jewellery maker Folli Follie is in talks with three bondholders hoping to firm up a restructuring plan “within days”, a senior company source told Reuters on Friday. The step is key for the company, which has debt of about 430 million euros due this year and in 2021, to avoid collapse, Reuters reported. Along with its luxury jewellery trademark, Folli distributes international apparel brands in Greece, including Nike and Calvin Klein. It employs 5,000 people in its home market and abroad, including in China and Japan.

Greece plans to pump as much as 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) into its banks over the next five years by subsidizing a part of households’ mortgage repayments, Bloomberg News reported. Under the plan, some households unable to repay their home loans will restructure their debts with the banks, with the state then paying part of the remaining monthly installments, according to three people familiar with plan, who asked not to be named as details still need to be finalized. Greek banks are grappling with 88.6 billion euros of bad loans, a legacy of the country’s financial crisis.