-Alexis Tsipras, Greece's Prime Minister
Euro zone finance ministers agreed to extend the Greek bailout deal for four months on Friday, but urged Greece's government to come up with a list of reforms by Monday. The list will include measures to tackle tax evasion and streamline the civil service, Minister of state Nikos Pappas said. Although, Alexis Tsipras, Greece's Prime Minister managed to keep the country in the Euro zone, he was blamed for selling illusions to voters, as he failed to keep his pre-election pledge to pull out the country from the international bailout. Meanwhile, Euro zone manufacturing is gradually improving, while activity services sector continues to increase at a solid pace. The flash manufacturing PMI for the Euro bloc climbed to 51.1 in February, up from 51.0 in the preceding month and reaching the highest level in seven months. Activity in the Euro bloc's services sector rose further, with the corresponding index ticking up to 53.9 in the reported month, compared with 52.7 a month earlier. The optimistic data on manufacturing and services sectors translated into a pickup in the composite PMI, which to 53.9, up from 52.6 in January. In the Euro area's powerhouse, Germany, preliminary data showed that the manufacturing sector continued to expand with a reading of 50.9, while the services activity index climbed to 55.5 points in February. In France, the Euro zone's second largest economy, manufacturing sector struggled with the flash manufacturing PMI further dropping to 47.7 points, while the services sector reported considerable improvement with flash PMI reaching 53.4 points.
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