The ECB kept its main interest rate locked at a record low point of 1.0 percent on Thursday as financial markets demanded details on a controversial programme to buy up debt from eurozone countries. European Central Bank governors decided last month to purchase billions of euros in debt issued by countries like Greece, Ireland and

Greece's unemployment rate fell to 11.6 percent in March from a six-year high of 12.1 percent in February, the country's statistics service said on Thursday. Unemployment was 9.2 percent in March 2009. The jobless rate in the 16 countries sharing the euro rose to 10.1 percent in April, its highest level in almost 12 years,

European finance ministers sought to calm nervous markets on Monday by nailing down details of a massive financial safety net for the euro zone as Germany unveiled new budget cuts it hopes will set an example for its partners in the bloc. German Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition agreed to pursue savings of 11.2 billion euros

European shares rose on Thursday ahead of several key central bank interest rate decisions, with banks gaining on a more positive global recovery sentiment and oil spill-hit BP moving off its lows. By 0916 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares was up 0.7 percent at 1,005.78 points after earlier being as low as

Syndicated loans for emerging markets borrowers are being threatened by increased bank funding costs arising from the euro zone crisis, lenders said on Wednesday. The sovereign debt crisis has boosted dollar funding costs, which is reducing demand from smaller banks to join loans and causing a number of arranging banks to review their lending strategy,

Financial markets' scepticism of a rescue plan for Greece and a safety net for the euro zone's members is incomprehensible, European Central Bank Governing Council member Axel Weber said on Wednesday.

The European Commission on Wednesday demanded that Bulgaria explain why it abruptly raised its 2010 budget deficit forecast, reiterating doubts about the quality of the country's statistics. The European Union's executive said the bloc's statistics office, Eurostat, was sending a mission to the Black Sea country to assess whether it kept proper records of its

Ratings agency Standard and Poor's is likely to make a decision on its negative outlook on the UK shortly after the UK budget on June 22, the agency's head of sovereign ratings said on Tuesday. The ratings agency wants to see if British fiscal strategies are credible before deciding on any action on the sovereign's

Cyprus Finance Minister Charilaos Stavrakis stressed on Wednesday that fiscal consolidation remains a necessity, as the Cypriot economy recorded growth of 0.1% in the first quarter of 2010. ''Fiscal consolidation is absolutely necessary and the marginal improvement of the Cypriot economy in no way means that the importance of the fiscal consolidation package is over,''

Ratings agency Standard and Poor's does not consider that a Greek debt default in the near term and a breakup of the euro zone are inevitable, a senior official said on Wednesday. David Beers, head of sovereign ratings, told a Reuters Investment Summit in London that a European Union and International Monetary Fund rescue package