· ANKARA - World Bank director Andrew Vorkink said on May 17 that recent developments in the Turkish economy had sounded no alarm bells.
He said that trends affecting its currency and interest rates were coming from outside the country, and were linked to expectations that the US federal reserve would increase interest rates.
The Turkish lira would stay at about 1.6 million to the US dollar this year, he said.
Vorkink said that the Turkish government had met the World Bank's critera for the Country Assistance Strategy. The first year of the three-year CAS programme would be completed in June this year. By the end of this year, the World Bank would have extended more than $1.5 billion to Turkey within the framework of the programme, he said. On May 13, International Monetary Fund (IMF) managing director-designate Rodrigo Rato said that he saw no economic crisis risk in Turkey. He said that the IMF would continue to work with the Turkish government either with the program or without it after the existing stand-by agreement.
· ATHENS - Greece's economy expanded 4.1 per cent in the first quarter of 2004 compared with the same period last year, according to provisional figures released by the national statistics service on May 17.
Gross Domestic Product was up three per cent from the last quarter of 2003, while consumer spending rose 2.5 per cent from the first three months of 2003 and 0.4 per cent from the last quarter of 2003. Investment was up 6.1 per cent against the same quarter of 2003 and 8.2 per cent from fourth quarter of 2003.
· BRATISLAVA - Atlanta-based US firm Sovereign Financial Group is willing to invest 200 million euro in building highways in Slovakia, but want a state guarantee, according to local media reports.
· BUCHAREST - Improvement in economic co-operation, implementation of joint infrastructure projects, European integration and the visa regime between Serbia-Montenegro and Romanian were among main issues in talks on May 17 between Serbian prime minister Vojislav Kostunica and his Romanian counterpart Adrian Nastase.
Also discussed were the Constance-Pancevo-Omisalj oil pipeline, the Timisoara-Mokrin natural gas pipeline, improvement of co-operation in rail transport, and the Belgrade-Timisoara highway.
On the visa regime question, Kostunica said that it was of the greatest importance not to put bilateral and regional co-operation under stress by introducing a visa regime.
Nastase proposed that the two countries' ambassadors in Brussels discuss the issue along with European Commission representatives.
· BUDAPEST - Audi Hungary is to open a 15 million euro crankshaft plant in the town of Gyor, 280 km north-west of Budapest. Plans are to produce 12 000 crankshafts daily for four-cylinder diesel engines. The firm produces more than 600 000 four-cylinder diesel engines annually in the town for Audi, Skoda, Seat and Volkswagen cars.
· MOSCOW - Russian president Vladimir Putin said on May 15 that his country was ready to create a fully-fledged free trade zone with the Ukraine. He was speaking after talks with Ukraine prime minister Viktor Yanukovych. Putin said that he would soon meet with the presidents of Kazakhstan, Ukraine, and Belarus to finalise an accord on a single economic zone.
· PRAGUE - The stock market saw its largest drop in the past two years on May 10. The PX 50 index fell by 4.01 per cent to 741.5 points, and the blue-chip PX-D index fell by 4.54 per cent to 1840 points. Declines in foreign markets, and expectations of increases in interest rates and oil prices were said to have caused the drop.
· SKOPJE - The Macedonian Government on May 17 adopted 2003 Budget balance sheet.
The Government also adopted a proramme for public investments in the period 2004-2006, which regulates a medium-term strategy of investments in public infrastructure. The programme includes the priority projects in the fields of energy, transport, water supply, irrigation, environmental protection, and non-commercial areas. The programme consists of 142 investment projects, with a total cost of about two billion euro.
- Business Staff
He said that trends affecting its currency and interest rates were coming from outside the country, and were linked to expectations that the US federal reserve would increase interest rates.
The Turkish lira would stay at about 1.6 million to the US dollar this year, he said.
Vorkink said that the Turkish government had met the World Bank's critera for the Country Assistance Strategy. The first year of the three-year CAS programme would be completed in June this year. By the end of this year, the World Bank would have extended more than $1.5 billion to Turkey within the framework of the programme, he said. On May 13, International Monetary Fund (IMF) managing director-designate Rodrigo Rato said that he saw no economic crisis risk in Turkey. He said that the IMF would continue to work with the Turkish government either with the program or without it after the existing stand-by agreement.
· ATHENS - Greece's economy expanded 4.1 per cent in the first quarter of 2004 compared with the same period last year, according to provisional figures released by the national statistics service on May 17.
Gross Domestic Product was up three per cent from the last quarter of 2003, while consumer spending rose 2.5 per cent from the first three months of 2003 and 0.4 per cent from the last quarter of 2003. Investment was up 6.1 per cent against the same quarter of 2003 and 8.2 per cent from fourth quarter of 2003.
· BRATISLAVA - Atlanta-based US firm Sovereign Financial Group is willing to invest 200 million euro in building highways in Slovakia, but want a state guarantee, according to local media reports.
· BUCHAREST - Improvement in economic co-operation, implementation of joint infrastructure projects, European integration and the visa regime between Serbia-Montenegro and Romanian were among main issues in talks on May 17 between Serbian prime minister Vojislav Kostunica and his Romanian counterpart Adrian Nastase.
Also discussed were the Constance-Pancevo-Omisalj oil pipeline, the Timisoara-Mokrin natural gas pipeline, improvement of co-operation in rail transport, and the Belgrade-Timisoara highway.
On the visa regime question, Kostunica said that it was of the greatest importance not to put bilateral and regional co-operation under stress by introducing a visa regime.
Nastase proposed that the two countries' ambassadors in Brussels discuss the issue along with European Commission representatives.
· BUDAPEST - Audi Hungary is to open a 15 million euro crankshaft plant in the town of Gyor, 280 km north-west of Budapest. Plans are to produce 12 000 crankshafts daily for four-cylinder diesel engines. The firm produces more than 600 000 four-cylinder diesel engines annually in the town for Audi, Skoda, Seat and Volkswagen cars.
· MOSCOW - Russian president Vladimir Putin said on May 15 that his country was ready to create a fully-fledged free trade zone with the Ukraine. He was speaking after talks with Ukraine prime minister Viktor Yanukovych. Putin said that he would soon meet with the presidents of Kazakhstan, Ukraine, and Belarus to finalise an accord on a single economic zone.
· PRAGUE - The stock market saw its largest drop in the past two years on May 10. The PX 50 index fell by 4.01 per cent to 741.5 points, and the blue-chip PX-D index fell by 4.54 per cent to 1840 points. Declines in foreign markets, and expectations of increases in interest rates and oil prices were said to have caused the drop.
· SKOPJE - The Macedonian Government on May 17 adopted 2003 Budget balance sheet.
The Government also adopted a proramme for public investments in the period 2004-2006, which regulates a medium-term strategy of investments in public infrastructure. The programme includes the priority projects in the fields of energy, transport, water supply, irrigation, environmental protection, and non-commercial areas. The programme consists of 142 investment projects, with a total cost of about two billion euro.
- Business Staff
