Luxembourg

The Recovery and Resilience Fund enabled investments that otherwise would not have been made or would have been significantly delayed, Minister of National Economy and Finance Kostis Hatzidakis emphasized in his intervention at the ECOFIN meeting in Luxembourg on Friday.

In a significant move toward Bulgaria's integration into the Eurozone, the European Commission (EC) has pledged support for the country's efforts to promote the adoption of the euro.

The 2023 wildfire season in Europe was among the worst this century, according to a European Commission report published on Wednesday.

Last year, more than half a million (504,002) hectares, an area twice the size of Luxembourg, was scorched by wildfires, according to a report on Forest Fires in Europe, Middle East and North Africa 2023 by the Commission's Joint Research Centre.

In the latest unveiling of Forbes' prestigious billionaires list for 2024, the world witnesses a dynamic panorama of wealth distribution and economic shifts. Among the familiar names in the rankings are the brothers Kiril and Georgi Domuschievi, albeit with a notable decline in their fortunes, placing them at 1545th position. 2,781 people from 78 nations were Included in Forbes' ranking.

According to the European statistical office Eurostat, housing prices, measured by the House Price Index, increased by 0.2 % in the EU during the fourth quarter of 2023 compared to the same quarter of the previous year. However, in the euro area, they decreased by 1.1 %. This marks a continuation of the trend observed in the third quarter, where prices fell by 1.1 %and 2.2 %, respectively.

Trendyol, one of Türkiye's largest e-commerce platforms, has opened its first pop-up store in the Gulf region at a shopping mall in Saudi Arabia's capital Riyadh.

The online shopping giant has been expanding its operations abroad, including Germany, Azerbaijan and Central and Eastern Europe.

Eurostat's recent publication on Wednesday showed insights into hourly labour costs across the European Union (EU) in 2023, indicating a notable rise compared to the previous year. The average hourly labour costs for the entire economy were estimated at EUR 31.8 in the EU and EUR 35.6 in the euro area, marking an increase from EUR 30.2 and EUR 34.0, respectively, in 2022.

The latest data released by Eurostat, the official statistical office of the European Union, reveals that Bulgaria continues to grapple with the lowest purchasing power within the EU, while Luxembourg maintains its position at the top with the highest purchasing power.

According to Eurostat's latest publication, in the fourth quarter of 2023, the euro area witnessed a job vacancy rate of 2.7%, marking a decline from 2.9% in the preceding quarter and 3.1% in the same period of 2022. Notably, Bulgaria and Romania recorded the lowest job vacancy rates during this period, standing at 0.7% in both countries, BTA reported.

Bulgaria's defense expenditure for the year 2023 amounted to $1.9 billion (3.47 billion BGN), representing 1.87 percent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP), as detailed in the annual report released by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. This disclosure occurred during a press conference held at NATO headquarters in Brussels earlier today.