International economics

Premier Victor Ponta said on Wednesday that Romania has made efforts to meet a set of high standards, regarding primarily competitiveness and transparency, and that the Government plans to seek for Romania full membership of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Greece is close to exiting its bailout programme and will draw up its own adjustment scheme, according to government spokesperson Sofia Voultepsi.

“We are near exiting the memorandums,” she told ANT-1 TV on Monday morning in reference to Greece’s bailout agreements with the eurozone and International Monetary Fund.

BELGRADE - The foreign currency reserves of the National Bank of Serbia (NBS) totalled EUR 10,878 million at the end of September, which ensures money mass coverage of 310 percent and coverage of over seven month's worth of imports of goods and services, NBS released.

I flew to Washington, D.C., on Monday to participate in the 2014 Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group

The second phase of talks between Greece and the troika is likely to be tougher than expected after the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, indicated on Thursday that Greece should maintain a lifeline with the Fund even as Prime Minister Antonis Samaras claimed the country can cover its financing needs alone.

The International Monetary Fund urged Greece on Thursday to maintain a financial lifeline with the crisis lender even as it nears exiting the $300 billion IMF-EU-European Central Bank bailout program.

IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde acknowledged Athens's stated desire for an early exit of the rescue program, which had imposed harsh austerity and reforms on the country.

Exchange rate at RSD 119.55, NBS sells EUR 70mn

BELGRADE -- The Serbian dinar dropped on Thursday against the euro by another 0.1 percent or 15 paras, thus setting the official middle exchange rate at RSD 119.5502.

This comes despite the fact that the National Bank of Serbia (NBS) sold EUR 70 million on Wednesday.

The trade balance between Greece and Japan has shifted in the last few years as the drop in domestic demand in Greece and the increase in Greek exports have turned the country from a net importer of Japanese goods to a net exporter to the world’s third-largest economy, according to Japan’s honorary general consul in Thessaloniki, Haris Alexopoulos.

Troika inspectors were due to leave Athens on Tuesday with little sign of a comprehensive deal with the Greek government over the latest adjustment program review in sight. The lack of progress means that a Greek delegation will head to Washington for talks with International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde on Sunday.

BELGRADE - The Serbian dinar will go down by 0.1 percent to RSD 119.4055 per euro on Wednesday, despite Tuesday's intervention by the National Bank of Serbia (NBS) which sold EUR 20 million on the interbank foreign exchange market so as to prevent a further drop in the value of the national currency.