Hellenic Statistical Authority

The European Commission expressed its satisfaction after the Greek parliament passed the prerequisite measures Thursday morning.

The European Commission (EC) is proposing to grant EUR 7 B bridge loan to Greece in order to cover the country's financing needs in July.

The funds will be provided through the European Financial Stability Mechanism (EFSM), daily Kathimerini reports.

There are four things that Greece needs to do now that an agreement with Greece’s creditors has been reached:

* Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras will form a new national unity government when he gets back to Athens.

Unemployment in Greece has risen again and reached a 26,6% level during the first three months of the year, Katimerini daily reported.

Travel agents and tour operators saw their turnover grow 23% in the first quarter of 2015 compared to the same period last year said the Hellenic Statistical Authority on Monday. A report by ELSTAT showed that the ground transport turnover index fell by 3.9% in the January – March period whereas the sea transport turnover index fell 5.2% and the air transport index rose 3.1%.

Greek retail sales by volume rose 1.2 percent in March compared to the same month a year earlier, despite the uncertainty over a reforms deal with the country?s EU/IMF lenders, statistics service ELSTAT said on Friday.

The Greek economy returned to recession in the first quarter of 2015, according to data by the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) at noon on Wednesday. The figures show 0.2% recession. Simultaneously, the forecast for development has been cut to 0.3% as the European Commission in its spring assessment for Greece estimated 0.5% growth with the government expecting development at 1%.

Greece's jobless rate dropped slightly to 25.4 percent in February from a downwardly revised 25.6 percent rate in the previous month, statistics agency ELSTAT said on Wednesday.

February's reading, based on seasonally adjusted data, is the lowest since July 2012 when unemployment stood at 25.3 percent. The jobless rate hit a record high of 27.9 percent in September 2013.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and German Chancellor Angela Merkel had ?constructive and positive? talks on the sidelines of an immigration summit in Brussels on Thursday, Greek government sources said, noting that there was a ?convergence of views? on the level of Greece?s primary surplus target this year and next year and as regards privatizations.

Greek industrial output rose by 1.9 percent year-on-year in February after a downwardly revised 0.2 percent drop in January, Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) said on Thursday.

Mining output fell by 17.4 percent while electricity production declined by 5 percent.

Manufacturing production rose 5.8 percent from the same month a year earlier, ELSTAT said.