Eurozone crisis

German newspaper Handelsblatt believes that the expected repayment by Greece of high-interest loans issued by the International Monetary Fund will be an important political signal since it will reduce the country's debt burden and strengthen Athens' argument for easing the primary budget surplus target of 3.5 percent of gross domestic product agreed with its creditors.

The Public Debt Management Agency wants to limit Greece's exposure to treasury bill issues with the aim of preparing the country for a possible run from them in case the world economy slows down.
Despite the fact that yields on Greek T-bills are at record lows, they are still several rungs below investment grade.

Greek exports rose 2.2 percent to 16.82 billion euros in the first half of 2019 compared to the same period in 2018, data from the country's independent statistics authority ELSTAT show.
This represents a slowdown in growth compared to previous years.
More worryingly, in June 2019 alone, exports dropped 9 percent, to 2.76 billion, compared to June 2018.

The latest Fitch report that saw Greece's debt rating remain unchanged at BB- and the outlook stable did not rattle the markets and, despite appearances, was not to blame for Monday's 3.83 percent dive by the benchmark of the Athens stock market.

The drop in Greek state borrowing costs since last summer, when Athens agreed with creditors on primary surpluses of 3.5 percent of gross domestic product up to 2022 and 2.2 percent from 2023 to 2060, is paving the way for a reduction to those targets, analysts have told Kathimerini.

Finance Minister Christos Staikouras says that Greece has already started discussion with its European Union partners to reduce its primary budget surpluses as of 2020.

"The plan of the prime minister and his financial team is to build, step by step, all the necessary conditions to achieve the goal (to reduce the surplus) as of 2020," Staikouras said in an interview to Kathimerini.

About 3.176 million under-25s were unemployed in the 28 member-states of the European Union in June, of whom 2.251 million were in the 19-member eurozone, the EU's statistical office Eurostat has revealed.
The youth unemployment rate in June was 14.1 percent in the EU-28 and 15.4 percent in the euro area, compared with 15.2 percent and 17 percent respectively in June 2018.

Growth in the amount of money spent using debit, credit and prepaid cards slowed significantly over the first six months of this year, with the transaction volume rising by 6.6 percent in January-June 2019 year-on-year compared to more than 10 percent in the previous year, according to bank data Kathimerini has seen.

Greece's property and construction sector could play a significant role in the country's economic rebound, thanks in part to the measures on property taxation and bolstering building activity that the new government is about to pass, according to a report by Alpha Bank.

The European Commission on Friday announced a decision to extend for an additional six months the enhanced surveillance mechanism agreed with Greece following the country's bailout exit last summer.