International economics

Greece has made a 200-million-euro interest payment to the International Monetary Fund that fell due on Wednesday, a Greek official familiar with the matter told Reuters.

"It's done, the money is on its way," the official said, on condition of anonymity.

Greece blamed international creditors for the failure to find an agreement in bailout talks, saying a deal won?t be possible until they agree on a common set of demands.

A Greek official said that the European Commission and the International Monetary Fund are confronting the country with too many red lines and aren?t coordinated enough with each other.

Iraq has requested financial assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and agreement may be reached within weeks on a loan of about $800 million, a senior IMF official said. 

EBRD: Unused loans should be canceled or redirected

BELGRADE -- Serbia should cancel most of the EUR 3.5 billion loans that have not been used, or redirect a part of the funds to more urgent projects, says Matteo Patrone.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) director for Serbia spoke for Tanjug on Sunday.

Asian countries are attracting some 70 percent of all global foreign direct investments (FDI), as investment flow to developed countries is on a fall, according to Mukhisa Kituy, the secretary general of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). 

By Nikos Chrysoloras

Greece's cash-strapped government may get a brief respite in yet another looming debt payment next week thanks to a public holiday.

As Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras's government struggles to pay pensions and salaries at the end of the month, the May 1st public holiday may give its depleted coffers a break.

Turkey received a total of $2.7 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) in January and February, a decrease of 2.5 percent compared with same period last year.

The country received $954 million in February and $1.757 billion in January, according to data released by the Turkish Economy Ministry on April 20.

The Independent's article, "Greece met its latest IMF debt payment - but no one is sure where the money is coming from", wonders what magic trick Greece pulled to meet its loan repayment worth 459 mln euros to the International Monetary Fund on Thursday.

Arab and Turkish ministers of trade, economy and investment agreed on April 20 on the need to expedite the implementation of programs aimed at deepening commercial exchanges and economic cooperation between the two sides.

By John Geddie

Greek bond yields were set for their biggest weekly rise since the end of January on Friday and investors shed other low-rated debt as a stalemate between Athens and its international lenders threatened to bankrupt the country in the coming days.