Debt

Russia's gold reserves reached a historic milestone in October, with the total value surpassing USD 200 billion for the first time, according to the Bank of Russia. As of November 1, the bank reported the dollar value of its gold holdings at USD 207.7 billion, reflecting a nearly 4 percent increase over the previous month and breaking the record set in September.

Trustees of Corporate Commercial Bank (KTB), currently in bankruptcy, announced the commencement of payments to creditors starting at 09:00 on November 5, 2024. This will involve amounts from the sixth partial account for distributing accepted receivables, totaling 30 million leva, as reported in a letter to BTA.

Cyprus made strides in paying down its debt in the second quarter of 2024, settling over 1 billion euros in bonds and loans. According to the Cypriot Finance Ministry's Debt Management Office (PDMO), this repayment approach helps reduce the national debt, boost financial stability and potentially open up new benefits for Cypriot citizens and the economy.

BELGRADE - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said at a Serbia-Japan business forum in Belgrade on Thursday Serbia would by the end of this year get investment-grade credit ratings from the Fitch and Moody's rating agencies as well.

Both new applications and debt settlements through the extra mechanism for debt settlement recorded a significant increase in September compared to the same month in 2023.

The number of young people up to the age of 25 who are heavily in debt is on the rise in Bulgaria, with the fastest-growing demographic being young individuals, even those with stable incomes. Financial mismanagement is primarily to blame, particularly among men, who tend to incur more debt than women.

Debt management companies are diving into the hard core of the private debt owed to banks and, mainly, funds that have bought the bad loans, and have so far succeeded in streamlining loans amounting to approximately 10.3 billion euros out of the total of €98 billion they undertook to be managed, with an emphasis on those from 2021 onwards.

Bulgaria ranks 35th in the 2023 list of the wealthiest countries, with net financial assets per capita amounting to 16,410 euros. The Global Wealth Report, released by Allianz, highlights a notable increase in global financial assets of private households, which rose by 7.6%, offsetting a previous decline of 3.5%.

Credit ratings agency Moody's changed Eurobank's and National Bank's outlook for their Baa2 senior unsecured debt and long-term deposit ratings to positive from stable, "following the outlook change to positive from stable in the Government of Greece's Ba1 issuer rating."

Moody's is the only one among major credit ratings agencies that has not given Greece's debt an investment grade.

The Public Debt Management Agency (PDMA) has already drawn from markets €8.7 billion out of the planned €10 billion through bond issues. Thus, another issue is still a possibility, although several experts caution this is not necessary, and that the outstanding amount can be easily covered via the three planned reissuances.