The European Stability Mechanism (ESM)

The Bulgarian Ministry of Finance anticipates that the country will achieve the inflation benchmark required for Eurozone membership by the year's end. Following this achievement, Bulgaria plans to formally request the European Commission (EC) and the European Central Bank (ECB) to prepare an extraordinary convergence report, as stated by the Ministry of Finance.

The recent turbulence caused by the collapse of Credit Suisse, Silicon Valley Bank and First Republic Bank will probably not mark a new fiscal crisis, Deputy Head of Financial Sector and Market Analysis at the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), Paolo Fioretti, told the Delphi Economic Forum on Thursday.

The European Stability Mechanism (ESM) on Monday announced the completion of the eighth transfer of income earned by central banks on holdings of SMPs and ANFAs to Greece, worth approximately 603 million euros, as part of a debt-relief package.

The European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) decided on Thursday to reduce to zero the step-up margin accrued by Greece for the period between June 17 and December 31, 2022, as part of the medium-term debt relief measures agreed for the country in 2018.

The value of this eighth reduction amounts to 122.5 million euros, it said in a statement.

Next week marks the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) on 2 February 2012.

The ESM is a child of the euro crisis, it was directly connected to the biggest debt crisis that Greece went through after the war and it reminds the Greeks of the most difficult moments of the last decade.

The 10th post-memorandum evaluation report of the Greek economy is expected to be presented during today's Eurogroup meeting in Luxembourg, which will be attended by Finance Minister Christos Staikouras.

Therefore, Greece is expected to take another step towards a positive direction, as another evaluation is successfully completed.

Greece has filed a request to the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), the eurozone's bailout fund, seeking its consent to pay back earlier expensive debt to the International Monetary Fund, government officials said on Wednesday.

The country has received three international bailouts from the eurozone and the IMF worth 280 billion euros since 2010.

The Public Debt Management Agency (PDMA) is awaiting the nod from the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) this or next month to proceed with the early repayment of another part of Greece's debt to the International Monetary Fund, thereby considerably reducing the remainder of the country's dues to the IMF.

The European Stability Mechanism (ESM) on Tuesday announced the transfer of 644.42 million euros to Greece in a post on the ESM's Twitter account.

Eurozone finance ministers will start on Thursday a month-long process of choosing their next chairman to replace Portugal's Mario Centeno who will step down in July, with ministers from Spain, Luxembourg and Ireland among possible candidates.