-Louka Katseli, head of the Greek bank association
Greece reopened its banks, cleared overdue debt repayments of 2.05 billion euros to the IMF and initiated payment of 4.2 billion euros in principal and interest to the ECB after Athens received emergency funding assistance from European authorities. Meanwhile, the Euro zone's current account surplus shrank in May, according to the ECB. The current account balance showed a surplus of 18 billion euros in the reported month, compared with 24 billion euros in April. Cumulated data for the twelve months to May, showed the surplus at 2.5% of Euro zone's GDP, compared with 1.8% a year earlier. Germany's current-account surplus, the biggest in the Euro region, fell to 11.1 billion euros in May, compared with a revised 21.2 billion euros in the preceding month. A separate report showed German factory prices fell in June, when measured on a monthly basis. The reading declined 1.4% following a flat print in May and compared with a 0.1% increase predicted by analysts. Measured on an annual basis, producer prices in Europe's number one economy slid 0.1% in the reported month after the 1.3% drop in May. Meanwhile, consumer prices dropped 0.1% on month in June. In annual terms, the cost of living in Germany climbed 0.3% in June. The Bundesbank sharply revised downwards its inflation outlook for this year to 0.5% from the 1.1% seen in December in its latest monthly report. The bank expects inflation rebounding to 1.8% in 2016, and then hitting 2.2% in 2017.
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