ANKARA - Income distribution and poverty are Turkey's most pressing problems, deputy prime minister Abdullatif Sener told journalists at the close of last week's Turkish Economy Congress.
He said the country's short-term goal should be to lift people out of poverty, and the best way to combat poverty was through job creation. This should be followed by income distribution in the medium term, as had been done in Portugal, and in the long term, there should be income distribution in line with European Union norms.
Sener called for the reining in of the grey economy, along with tax cuts, to encourage investment and growth. Turkey should eliminate bureaucratic rules that discouraged entrepreneurship, he said.
· BELGRADE - Most of the total 360 million euro in international donations that were made to Serbia in 2003 were used by the energy sector, which got 60 million euro, according to the ministry of international economic relations.
Other main users were municipal government, with 51.8 million euro, the health sector 25.4 million euro, transport 24.8 million euro, social welfare 23 million euro, and the state administration, 22 million euro.
Other amounts included 16.7 million euro to private enterprise, 15 million euro to civil society, 10.6 million euro to agriculture, 8.7 million euro to education, and 7.8 million euro to the judiciary.
· BUCHAREST - National Romanian Bank vice-governor Cristian Popa said the bank would soon move to decrease interest, after it was sure that inflation and the current account deficit would continue to decrease.
He said that there was good progress in the decreasing of inflation, but the current account deficit would have to be closely watched.
He said he could not give an exact date for when interest would be lowered, but said it was likely that this would happen before the end of the year. The rate set by the bank is currently 21.25 per cent. The bank's long-term plan is to bring interest close to the level of inflation. Inflation this year is estimated to be nine per cent.
· BUCHAREST - An 81 per cent share in Romanian brewery Aurora has been purchased by SABMiller, one of the world's biggest brewing firms, it was announced on May 10. The deal will put SABMiller in what is described as a strong number two position in the market, with about 20 per cent market share. The purchase price was not disclosed.
· ISTANBUL - Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan this week attended the groundbreaking ceremony of the Marmaray railway project.
He said that when the project is completed, which is expected to take four years, the country's railway system would meet 27 per cent of Istanbul's transport needs, instead of the current three per cent. The project will be paid for over 10 years. Financing for the project is coming from a range of international institutions, including the Japanese International Credit Bank, which has provided $815 million.
· BUDAPEST - Hungary's OTP Bank on April 28 purchased 100 per cent of Robank, Romania's thirteenth largest bank, for $47.5 million.
The bank has a current market share of less than one per cent. The Hungarian bank said it plans to invest $100 million to open 100 branches in the next five years, with the aim of increasing the bank's market share to five per cent. OTP said it would offer a full range of modern financial products, including telephone and internet banking, insurance, leasing and fund management services to both individual and corporate clients.
OTP is on a drive to expand its presence in Eastern Europe. Its notable purchases have included DSK in Bulgaria. It is reported to be considering purchases of banks in Serbia and Croatia, and may also move into Poland and the Czech Republic depending on the prospects for profitability.
· MOSCOW - A net outflow of investment in Russia and Eastern Europe was recorded for the first time in the past four months, according to a report on May 7 in Russia's Kommersant Daily. As of the week ending April 28, the outflow of capital from individual and institutional investors reached $104.5 million. The newspaper said likely causes of the outflow included the uncertainty surrounding the future of oil giant Yukos. On May 5, the newspaper reported Finance Minister Aleksei Kudrin as saying that the government would continue to prosecute Yukos and any other companies and individuals believed to have illegally avoided paying taxes. "With regard to Yukos, we have only just begun to make our complaints," Kudrin said.
· PRAGUE - A record 100 000 small businesses temporarily suspended their businesses during the first quarter of 2004, according to the Czech Republic's minister of trade and industry.
This is about the same number usually seen in a full year. During 2003, 33 000 businesses were shut down and 107 000 temporarily suspended.
Meanwhile, according to data released on May 10, unemployment in April was 10.2 per cent, compared to 10.7 per cent in March, and inflation fell to 10.2 per cent, from 10.7 per cent the previous month.
· SKOPJE - The free trade agreement between Macedonia and Albania is being implemented successfully, according to the economy ministers of the two countries.
Macedonia's Stevco Jakimovski and Albania's Anasta Angele met on May 10 as part of a meeting of the two countries' bilateral commission on the implementation of the agreement, which was signed in 2002.
Main topics at the meeting were trade liberalisation and the requests by each side for larger quotas. Albania wants larger quotas for agricultural products, beer, juices and flour. Macedonia wants larger quotas for milk, tomatoes, watermelons, potatoes and old iron. Bilateral trade is worth about $26 million a year.
He said the country's short-term goal should be to lift people out of poverty, and the best way to combat poverty was through job creation. This should be followed by income distribution in the medium term, as had been done in Portugal, and in the long term, there should be income distribution in line with European Union norms.
Sener called for the reining in of the grey economy, along with tax cuts, to encourage investment and growth. Turkey should eliminate bureaucratic rules that discouraged entrepreneurship, he said.
· BELGRADE - Most of the total 360 million euro in international donations that were made to Serbia in 2003 were used by the energy sector, which got 60 million euro, according to the ministry of international economic relations.
Other main users were municipal government, with 51.8 million euro, the health sector 25.4 million euro, transport 24.8 million euro, social welfare 23 million euro, and the state administration, 22 million euro.
Other amounts included 16.7 million euro to private enterprise, 15 million euro to civil society, 10.6 million euro to agriculture, 8.7 million euro to education, and 7.8 million euro to the judiciary.
· BUCHAREST - National Romanian Bank vice-governor Cristian Popa said the bank would soon move to decrease interest, after it was sure that inflation and the current account deficit would continue to decrease.
He said that there was good progress in the decreasing of inflation, but the current account deficit would have to be closely watched.
He said he could not give an exact date for when interest would be lowered, but said it was likely that this would happen before the end of the year. The rate set by the bank is currently 21.25 per cent. The bank's long-term plan is to bring interest close to the level of inflation. Inflation this year is estimated to be nine per cent.
· BUCHAREST - An 81 per cent share in Romanian brewery Aurora has been purchased by SABMiller, one of the world's biggest brewing firms, it was announced on May 10. The deal will put SABMiller in what is described as a strong number two position in the market, with about 20 per cent market share. The purchase price was not disclosed.
· ISTANBUL - Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan this week attended the groundbreaking ceremony of the Marmaray railway project.
He said that when the project is completed, which is expected to take four years, the country's railway system would meet 27 per cent of Istanbul's transport needs, instead of the current three per cent. The project will be paid for over 10 years. Financing for the project is coming from a range of international institutions, including the Japanese International Credit Bank, which has provided $815 million.
· BUDAPEST - Hungary's OTP Bank on April 28 purchased 100 per cent of Robank, Romania's thirteenth largest bank, for $47.5 million.
The bank has a current market share of less than one per cent. The Hungarian bank said it plans to invest $100 million to open 100 branches in the next five years, with the aim of increasing the bank's market share to five per cent. OTP said it would offer a full range of modern financial products, including telephone and internet banking, insurance, leasing and fund management services to both individual and corporate clients.
OTP is on a drive to expand its presence in Eastern Europe. Its notable purchases have included DSK in Bulgaria. It is reported to be considering purchases of banks in Serbia and Croatia, and may also move into Poland and the Czech Republic depending on the prospects for profitability.
· MOSCOW - A net outflow of investment in Russia and Eastern Europe was recorded for the first time in the past four months, according to a report on May 7 in Russia's Kommersant Daily. As of the week ending April 28, the outflow of capital from individual and institutional investors reached $104.5 million. The newspaper said likely causes of the outflow included the uncertainty surrounding the future of oil giant Yukos. On May 5, the newspaper reported Finance Minister Aleksei Kudrin as saying that the government would continue to prosecute Yukos and any other companies and individuals believed to have illegally avoided paying taxes. "With regard to Yukos, we have only just begun to make our complaints," Kudrin said.
· PRAGUE - A record 100 000 small businesses temporarily suspended their businesses during the first quarter of 2004, according to the Czech Republic's minister of trade and industry.
This is about the same number usually seen in a full year. During 2003, 33 000 businesses were shut down and 107 000 temporarily suspended.
Meanwhile, according to data released on May 10, unemployment in April was 10.2 per cent, compared to 10.7 per cent in March, and inflation fell to 10.2 per cent, from 10.7 per cent the previous month.
· SKOPJE - The free trade agreement between Macedonia and Albania is being implemented successfully, according to the economy ministers of the two countries.
Macedonia's Stevco Jakimovski and Albania's Anasta Angele met on May 10 as part of a meeting of the two countries' bilateral commission on the implementation of the agreement, which was signed in 2002.
Main topics at the meeting were trade liberalisation and the requests by each side for larger quotas. Albania wants larger quotas for agricultural products, beer, juices and flour. Macedonia wants larger quotas for milk, tomatoes, watermelons, potatoes and old iron. Bilateral trade is worth about $26 million a year.
