In economics

Deposits at Greek banks rose by 6.4 billion euros in December on a monthly basis, reaching €194.8 billion euros at the end of 2023. Of this, €3.3 billion of additional deposits are attributed to businesses and the other €3.1 billion from households.

The growth is attributed to the Christmas bonus and to the increased credit provided by banks to firms.

Homeowners who want to sell their properties in the market are now more willing to negotiate prices as existing home sales continue to decline.

Home sales plunged for a fifth month in a row in June. In the month, only 84,000 homes changed hands, pointing to a steep 44 percent decline from a year ago with existing home sales plunging more than 45 percent to around 58,000.

The share of cash in real estate purchases is increasing, as the relevant data show. The sharp increase in lending rates has sharply reduced the demand for mortgages, but at the same time transactions continue to move upward, along with sales prices, which are breaking one record after another.

A man with his dog casts his vote at a polling station in Athens. Greeks were voting Sunday in the first election since their country's economy ceased to be subject to strict supervision and control by international lenders who had provided bailout funds during its nearly decade-long financial crisis. [AP]

U.S. central bankers face an unenviable task when they gather in Washington this week: Tackling persistent inflation without adding to financial sector turmoil after Silicon Valley Bank's rapid collapse.

The Federal Reserve has raised rates eight times since last year in the face of decades-high inflation as it looks to cool the economy without tipping it into a recession.

Bernie Madoff, the man behind the biggest Ponzi scheme in history, has died in prison at the age of 82. Madoff ran a ripoff pyramid scheme that conned thousands of people around the world.

The Turkish Treasury will repay a debt of 57.7 billion Turkish liras ($9.88 billion) in September-November, the Treasury and Finance Ministry announced on Aug. 29.