site.news_by_theme eurozone

Greece's PDMA national debt agency said on Monday it had begun a voluntary buyback of the country's bonds at heavily discounted prices, a condition for receiving its latest instalment of EU-IMF bailout funds.

Greece won breathing space Tuesday with long-frozen eurozone loans to restart from December and a first clear admission that a chunk of the country's debt burden will need to be written off down the line.

Eurozone finance ministers meet in Brussels Monday for the third time in two weeks for talks on unlocking the next slice of aid to debt-crippled Greece, which is in danger of running out of money.

Oil prices fell in Asia Friday in thin trade following the US Thanksgiving holiday, with a truce in Gaza and gloomy eurozone manufacturing data weighing on buying sentiment.

The euro fell in Asian trade on Wednesday and shares eased after eurozone finance chiefs said they had failed to agree on a deal to unlock the latest batch of crucial bailout cash for Greece.

Spain blocked Monday the appointment of another man to the all-male ECB's executive board but a source said Madrid's decision was motivated by a desire to regain influence at the top of the eurozone's central bank.

French President Francois Hollande holds talks on Monday with the heads of the World Bank and other top economic bodies to discuss the eurozone debt crisis and ways to kickstart growth.

The debt-ravaged eurozone is in trouble but every effort must be made to keep this currency marriage intact because a divorce would end up "killing the kids.

Eurozone leaders on Friday hailed Greece's achievements in carrying out reforms aimed at getting its economy back on track and urged Athens to keep up efforts to stay in the eurozone.

EU leaders will go into a brainstorming session Thursday in the first of three summits being held before Christmas in the hope of ending the year with a deal on a stronger economic and monetary union.

EU President Herman Van Rompuy argued Friday that the 17-state eurozone could have a central 'Treasury' with a shared budget and raise funds on commercial bond markets.

The leaders of France and Spain vowed concerted action on the eurozone as they met on Wednesday amid IMF calls for new measures to control the debt crisis threatening the global economy.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's visit Tuesday to debt-strapped Greece may provide a chance to ease tensions born of the economic crisis.

The IMF slashed its global growth forecast and warned things could get much worse if the eurozone crisis is not quelled and Washington fails to reverse the looming "fiscal cliff" austerity plan.

The eurozone is unlikely to survive in its current form and one or more countries will probably have to leave the 17-nation single currency bloc, Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico said Sunday.

France will present its 2013 budget Friday with President Francois Hollande's credibility on the line as he seeks to rein in public finances and reassure financial markets without stirring public anger.

Moody's said Thursday that it would hold its review of Spain's credit rating until late September as it waits for more clarity on the European Stability Mechanism and moves for a eurozone banking union.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday warned that "every day" counts in efforts by debt-wracked Greece to comply with its commitments and safeguard its eurozone membership.

Greece's prime minister was expected to press for more time to make key reforms and spending cuts to keep his debt-wracked country in the eurozone at crisis talks Friday with Chancellor Angela Merkel.

A Greek exit from the eurozone would be "manageable" even if it would be expensive and result in higher unemployment.
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