EU: Portugal's FM to become next Eurogroup president

The Eurogroup meeting on Monday elected Portuguese finance minister Mario Centeno as president of the Eurogroup.

The new president will take office as of Jan 13, 2018 and will serve a two and a half year term.

He is the first minister from a southern eurozone economy to hold the elected role and first Eurogroup meeting under the presidency of Mario Centeno will take place on Jan 22, 2018.

Mario Centeno has been the finance minister of Portugal since November 2015.

Read more: Portugal's FM to become next Eurogroup president - World - Chinadaily.com.cn

Greece Economy: A positive agreement for Greece

On 15 June, Greece’s creditors, Eurogroup, acknowledged the achievements of the Greek government on the implementation and outcome of fiscal policy measures.

The release of the next bailout tranche was agreed; more clarity was provided on the debt relief roadmap as well as next steps towards boosting growth.

These developments have delivered a positive signal to the markets and the Greek people, indicating that the Greek economy is steadily exiting the final stages of a longstanding and harrowing financial crisis.

For the first time since 2010, Greece’s creditors have pledged to prioritize a growth-oriented model that entails the participation of the European Investment Bank in medium- and large-scale investment projects, as well as the creation of a Greek Development Bank – a proposal that the Greek government has made since 2015.

The reluctance of the German finance minister, Wolfgang Schaeuble, to accelerate the conclusion of the bailout review was significantly addressed after the Greek government, the European Commission, the French government and the progressive forces in the European institutions pressured the Eurogroup to agree to Greece’s bailout review.

The French played a mediating role for the need to develop growth policies, so that the Greek economy can start warming its engines.

Read more: A positive agreement for Greece

EU Economy: Deluded EU boss blames European nations for economic MELTDOWN NOT Euro in shock outburst - Zoie O'Brien

Nobel Prize winner Professor Joseph Stiglitz has insisted the EU will collapse if the Union makes no significant changes to the common currency policy.

According to the economist, the euro has “failed to bring prosperity, led to economic stagnation and to the erosion of solidarity between member states”.

Professor Stiglitz has been touring the EU with his new book which explains his belief the only way to save the Union would be dropping out of the single currency.

The book caught the world’s attention and red-faced Union bosses have spent months in silence.

Now, they have decided to retaliate - in the form of a letter by Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem.

The EU chief insisted Brussels cannot possibly be to blame, despite admitting there are issues to be addressed.

He said: “I would certainly not claim that everything is going smoothly in Europe, but the solution is not to abolish the euro to preserve the EU.

“Rather, the solution is to deal with Europe’s economic problems so our countries continue their recovery.”

Jeroen Dijsselbloem argued the loss of an exchange rate mechanism is not the main risk for the euro - because studies have shown “economic cycles of the eurozone countries are broadly aligned”.

In fact, he sees the issue as belonging entirely to separate member states.

He said: “If we return to the introduction of the euro, we can see that the problem did not stem from the loss of exchange rate levers.

“The problem was that financial markets made no distinction between the member states with regard to risk, even though there were enormous differences in growth potential from country to country.”

Mr Dijsselbloem used examples in Ireland, Spain, Greece and Portugal where he claims “wages rose faster than productivity”.

Read moreL Deluded EU boss blames European nations for economic MELTDOWN NOT Euro in shock outburst | World | News | Daily Express