Portugal

A total of 49.3% of all Bulgarians live below the poverty threshold, a survey by Greek statistical institute EL.STAT shows.

Greece ranks fourth among EU countries in terms of the highest percentage of citizens living on the poverty line, Bulgarian Telegraph Agency informs.

At the end of the first quarter of 2014, Bulgaria's government debt increased by 1.4 percentage points from the last quarter of 2013 and by 2.3 pp from the first quarter of 2013, to 20.3% of the GDP, according to Eurostat.

In the last quarter of 2013 the government debt amounted to 18.9% of the GDP and in the first quarter of 2013 it stood at 18.0% of the GDP.

By Rebecca Christie

Portugal and Greece have money set aside to recapitalize their banks if the European Central Bank uncovers problems during its asset-quality review and stress test, European Stability Mechanism chief Klaus Regling said.

By Marcus Bensasson and Andre Tartar

Greece’s return to bond markets after a four-year exile hasn’t convinced economists it can avoid a third bailout.

The annual inflation in the Euro Area was 0.5% in June 2014, stable compared with May, data released by Eurostat,the statistical office of the European Union showed.

By Christopher Whittall

The divergence between European equity and bank debt is expected to broaden further in the coming months as fundamental changes in banking regulations continue to impact the industry, giving credit investors a lucrative relative value play.

By Martin Santa

Eurozone inflation stayed low as expected in what the European Central Bank calls the «danger zone» in June as falling prices of food and phone calls offset more expensive tobacco and restaurants, data showed on Thursday.

A majority in the European Parliament has approved Jean-Claude Juncker to be President of the European Commission, reports BBC.

He got 422 votes out of the 729 total cast in the secret ballot, despite strong opposition earlier from Britain. Juncker got well over the 376 votes minimum that he needed.

There were 250 votes against him, 47 abstentions and 10 spoilt ballots.

The European Parliament is expected to approve on Tuesday the nomination of former Luxembourg PM Jean-Claude Juncker as president of the European Commission.

If backed by a majority of MEPs, he will succeed incumbent Jose Manuel Barroso of Portugal in November.

Last month,  Juncker won the backing of 26 out of 28 leaders of the EU.

By Angeliki Koutantou

Greek renewable energy firm ELTEH Anemos sold all the shares it hoped to in an initial public offering, albeit at the bottom of its price range - pointing to a mixed reception for the country's first IPO since its debt crisis began in 2009.