Economy of Greece

Credit rating agency Moody's on Tuesday upgraded the Greek banking system from negative to stable and said the country's economy would return to growth this year after a six-year recession.

The absorption of liquidity from banks’ share capital increases and from sovereign and corporate bond issues has this month deprived the local stock market of the cash that would have kept it on the upward course of previous months. Monday’s decline took the bourse’s benchmark below the 1,200-point level, mostly due to the lack of buyers rather than aggressive selling.

Railway operator Trainose said it would cancel services late Wednesday and all services on Thursday, after railway workers announced they will join the Labor Day strike called by private sector union GSEE on May 1.

Alpha and Coca-Cola HBC kept the bourse benchmark above the psychologically significant level of 1,220 points on Friday following an earlier decline that had brought daily losses close to 1 percent.

International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde is to meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on May 2 in Washington for talks expected to focus on the broader economic situation in the eurozone in general and to touch on the Greek economy and on the prospects for a launch of talks on lightening Greece's debt burden.

A late rally by blue chips including Piraeus and National offset the losses that the Athens bourse benchmark had been showing up to about half an hour before the end of Thursday's trading, with the rise in international markets also serving to assist in the recovery.

By Sotiris Nikas

Eurostat is expected on Wednesday to ratify the 2013 primary budget surplus, which will serve as the trigger for the further lightening of the Greek debt. The announcement will be the focus of Thursday’s Euro Working Group along with the presentation of a new growth plan for the Greek economy aimed at changing conditions in the country.

The bourse recovery continued for a third consecutive day on Tuesday, as blue chips led the benchmark to gains of almost 1 percent in the first session after the Easter holidays.

The strong rise that started in the local bourse on Wednesday continued on Thursday, with most stocks recording significant gains in the last session before the Easter holidays. Therefore the weekly losses were contained to just 0.18 percent compared with Friday, April 11.

The local stock market continued its slide unabated on Tuesday with the benchmark dropping below the 1,200-point mark for the first time in almost three months while it had been six years since the Greek bourse last chalked up nine consecutive sessions of losses.