-Jeroen Dijsselbloem, head of the Eurogroup
The European Central Bank increased the amount of emergency liquidity available to Greek banks, but said that access to funds may become more difficult as bailout negotiations remain at a standstill. The Governing Council raised the cap on Emergency Liquidity Assistance by 1.4 billion euros to 76.9 billion euros following an increase of about 1.5 billion euros last week. At the same time, the head of the Eurogroup Jeroen Dijsselbloem said that a recent reshuffle of Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras' negotiating team would not resolve the deadlock between Greece and its creditors, and Athens would need new loans to remain afloat. Dijsselbloem admitted there had been little progress in talks over the past two months, and said he did not think a Greek referendum on a deal with creditors would be a good idea.
Meanwhile, confidence in the Euro bloc's economy fell slightly in the current month, but the business morale improved and increasing inflation expectations of households suggested that the threat of deflation may have been finally overcome, the European Commission said. The index came in at 103.7 in April, down from 103.9 seen in the previous month. This followed three straight months of rises. Among the euro zone's largest economies, sentiment worsened in Germany and France, but rose further in Spain.
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