- Peter Vanden Houte, an economist at ING
Greece continues to grate on nerves of its European creditors, with Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis saying Athens should delay repayment of billions of euros Greece owes to the European Central Bank. Athens will have to repay 6.7 billion euros to the central bank this summer. Varoufakis said that the Greek government would be unable to repay what it owed to the ECB on time. Greece is already at risk of defaulting on its bailout obligations and has been engaged in marathon negotiations with its international lenders since the Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras' government came to power earlier this year. Those talks concern the release of a final 7.2 billion euros in bailout funds that the ECB, the EU and the IMF say they will only provide if Athens pushes through the necessary reforms.
Meanwhile, European Central President Mario Draghi said the central bank's stimulus measures will remain in place "as long as needed" until policy makers are confident inflation heads towards the targeted level. Draghi's comments countered some speculation in financial markets that a recent slew of upbeat fundamentals in the Euro zone would prompt the ECB to wind down its monthly 60 billion euro bond buying programme before September 2016. Draghi also played down fears that quantitative easing could blow price bubbles.
© Dukascopy Bank SA