Economy

The market is shocked after the deal between the National Bank and Alpha Bank went sour.  The Greek government was hoping for a positive climate change in its finance sector. It is characteristic that the Finance Ministry had earlier commended this development,...

Alpha Bank SA, Greece’s third- biggest bank, rejected an unsolicited 2.8 billion-euro ($3.8 billion) takeover bid from National Bank of Greece SA, the nation’s largest lender, saying the offer was inadequate. Alpha’s board voted unanimously to spurn National Bank’s all-stock...

Greece's top bank NBG on Friday announced a merger proposal with Alpha Bank aiming to build the country's largest, best capitalised lender, and support the recovery of the beleaguered Greek economy. Earlier, the Athens Stock Exchange suspended trading in NBG...

Fourlis Group announced on Thursday that it agreed on the purchase of the retail stores network of Intersport in Turkey, according to an official statement. The agreement includes the acquisition of the franchise rights and the establishment of the company...

Greek government is preparing the first package of property exploitation and a more comprehensive privatization program as well, so that the tenders could be started by the summer. The government aims to proceed with immediate announcements, stating that there is...

The Greek Public Debt Management Agency (PDMA) said it sold EUR390 million of 13-week treasury bills at an auction Tuesday, while the total bids reached EUR1,525mn, according to an announcement. Uniform yield was 3.85%, much lower than last three-month on...

The Hellenic Statistical Authority announced on Tuesday that the Gross Domestic Product for the 4th quarter of 2010 decreased by 6.6% in comparison with the 4th quarter of 2009 and by 1.4% in comparison with the 3rd quarter of...

Greek Central Bank’s head Giorgos Provopoulos (photo) said on Tuesday that the country’s government must urgently implement structural reforms. Giorgos Provopoulos said that Greece’s biggest problems are the enormous sovereign debt and the country’s low competitiveness. Greek government had taken positive...

The Greek Public Debt Management Agency said on Friday that Greece will auction 13-week treasury bills on February 15th. The amount to be auctioned is EUR300mn with maturity on May 20, 2011.  The settlement date is set for February 18, 2011. Only...

EU/IMF/ECB officials pinpointed both progress and delay in the implementing of the fiscal program that Greece follows, while they said that the country must proceed with large-scale privatizations, according to a statement. "The program is broadly on track stabilizing the...

Turkish company Rhea Venture Capital Investment Trust Inc. and Greek NEL Lines joined forces with hopes to acquire The Istanbul Fast Ferries Co. Inc., or İDO. The two companies formed a consortium named IDO Marmara Ege to bid together in...

The Hellenic Statistical Authority announces on Thursday that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) in January 2011 compared with January 2010, increased by 5.2%, while in January 2010, the annual rate of change of the CPI was 2.4%. The CPI in...

Liability dues totaling 5.8 million Euros are owed by citizens living abroad with real estate property on fair market value territory of 283.8 million Euros. This resulted from cross-examinations made by the General Secretariat of Information Systems of the...

Greece sold EUR390mn of six-month treasury bills, during an auction of EUR300mn on Tuesday, according to a Greek debt agency report. The total bids reached EUR1,363mn, with the yield dropping by 26 basis points compared to a previous January auction. The...

Fitch Ratings said that Greek real-estate prices are expected to decline 15% over the next two years as interest-rate increases make it harder for borrowers hit by austerity measures to keep up with mortgage payments, according to Bloomberg. The proportion...