Economy of the European Union

Türkiye's industrial production shrank by 0.2 percent in May from a year earlier, data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUİK) have shown.

The pace of annual decline in industrial output, however, eased from 1.2 percent in April.

The annual contraction in production was in line with market expectations.

Greece is heading into an election weekend with its public debt trading near the levels enjoyed by first-class peripheral countries, a decade after a debt crisis forced a dramatic reshaping of its borrowing.

The Ministry of Finance is preparing a draft budget in which the indicators fully meet the Maastricht criteria, that is, for entry into the Eurozone. For now, Bulgaria plans to do this in 2025.

The Greek economy will be upgraded by credit rating agencies to investment-grade level following the national elections on June 25, Bank of Greece Governor Yannis Stournaras asserted on Monday.

"The Eurogroup has confidence in us and the Greek economy shows resilience," Finance Minister Thodoros Pelagidis said in Luxembourg on Thursday, commenting on the European Commission's post-program surveillance report on Greece.

BELGRADE - Under an 80 mln euro loan agreement signed by the Serbian government with the EBRD on Friday, 70 mln euros will go to further construction of science and technology parks in Serbia, with the remaining 10 mln to go to the BIO4 campus in Belgrade.

The banking market is witnessing a trend of conversion of mortgage loans that were contracted with a floating interest rate into a long-term fixed interest rate (mainly five years), as the persistence of inflation at high levels continues to make borrowers nervous about the evolution of interest rates after the end of the freeze that banks have implemented.

Investors from non-EU countries played a leading role in the increase of foreign investments in Greek real estate in 2022, mainly aspiring to secure a residence permit through the Golden Visa program.

The European Central Bank will almost certainly deliver another interest rate hike tomorrow, pressing ahead with its fight against inflation even as the eurozone slides into a recession.

Analysts predict that ECB policymakers will copy May's move and again raise borrowing costs by 25 basis points, taking the closely watched deposit rate to 3.5 percent.

Not much progress is expected on the reform of European Union debt rules at EU finance ministers' talks on Friday, officials said, as Germany and France remain at odds over whether there should be a minimum annual debt reduction obligatory for all.