World Bank

By Stefan Riecher

The European Central Bank should slow its rush toward fresh stimulus as current measures haven?t had time to work and challenges including Greece?s political crisis make buying government bonds difficult, Governing Council member Ardo Hansson said.

Turkey has lagged behind other emerging markets in competitiveness levels and returned to the 1980s in terms of attracting foreign direct investment (FDI), World Bank Director for Turkey Martin Raiser said on Jan. 6, as reported by Cihan News Agency.

Internal migration made Turkey. Families packing up and leaving their hometowns was one of the major building blocks of our growth model. But no more, according to the new World Bank report on Turkey’s transitions. Turkey is now reaching its limits regarding urbanization via internal migration.

188 companies to be declared bankrupt - minister

BELGRADE -- Of some 512 companies that are currently looking for new owners through the Privatization Agency, 188 will be declared bankrupt, Zeljko Sertic has said.

The Serbian economy minister also explained that procedures to sell about 90 companies have been abandoned.

The Turkish state-run Ziraat Bank has been granted a banking license by the Central Bank of Azerbaijan, marking its entrance into the lucrative market.

The banking sector in Azerbaijan experienced high growth rates in 2013, according to a report released by the World Bank in October 2014.

I was quite surprised to see a bowl of rice sitting in the middle of the table when I went to have lunch with Ä°brahim Betil, a former banker who has been working in a nongovernmental organization for a long time.

Of course, the meal we were to have with Betil and other journalist colleagues was not only composed of flaky rice.

BELGRADE - Serbia should strengthen government companies and create a powerful public sector that can be useful during its EU integration, head of the World Bank office in Serbia Tony Verheijen said on Saturday.

Economy and finance ministries to merge again - daily

BELGRADE -- A cabinet reshuffle is "already on the horizon" writes a Belgrade-based daily, adding that ministries of finance and economy will once again be merged into one.

The accusation of treason is so commonly bandied about in Turkey that it has become banal. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan uses this accusation at every opportunity. He is now claiming that birth control is a form of treason which threatens extinction for a whole generation. It is not clear, however, if his real concern is demographical or ideological.

BELGRADE - Serbian Energy Minister Aleksandar Antic announced on Monday that the government should adopt the plan for restructuring of public enterprise Srbijagas at the next session.