Inflation

The Turkish Central Bank on Jan. 21 kept the policy rate constant in line with market expectations.

The bank's policy rate- also known as the one-week repo rate- stands at 17%, the bank said in a statement, noting that additional monetary tightening would be delivered if needed.

Greece's annual headline consumer price inflation stayed negative for a ninth straight month in December, data from the country's statistics service ELSTAT showed on Thursday.

The reading was -2.3% year-on-year from -2.1% in November.

The data also showed EU-harmonized inflation at -2.4% from -2.1% in the previous month.

The annual inflation rate remained stable at 2.1% in December last year as food prices rose by 3.24%, services by 2.69%, and non-food goods by 1.01%, according to data published on Thursday by the National Institute of Statistics (INS). "Consumer prices in December 2020, compared to December 2019, increased by 2.1%.

The Government approved, on Wednesday, the normative act establishing the minimum gross salary for 2021 at 2,300 lei per month, Prime Minister Florin Citu announced. "We approved the normative act which establishes the minimum salary for 2021, you already know, at 2,300 lei. I know that there were discussions in the public space if it can be applied from January 1.

The minimum wage will be indexed on Wednesday, in the Government meeting, by 3.1%, namely 70 lei gross, and the pensions will be increased this year at least by the inflation rate, Minister of Labor Raluca Turcan told private broadcaster Digi 24 Tuesday evening.

Ljubljana – The central bank says in its latest publication that Slovenia had one of the worst epidemiological situations in the eurozone in the last quarter of 2020. This demanded strict restrictive measures in the long-term that in turn caused another steep decline in economic activity.

Turkey saw a 14.60 percent annual hike in consumer prices in December 2020, the country's statistical authority said on Jan. 4.

The annual inflation rate rose 0.57 percentage point in the month, up from 14.03 percent in November, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK).

The consumer price index also saw a 1.25 percent monthly increase, it added.

Since the European Central Bank launched its first quantitative easing program in 2015, a common topic among fund managers and in rating agency reports was the risk of the Japanification of the European bond market; that is the prospect of one of the biggest bond markets in the world shrinking constantly, with investors having ever decreasing options for purchases and opportunities for profits

Turkey is raising its minimum wage by 21.56% as of Jan. 1, the country's family, labor and social services minister announced on Dec. 28. 

Net minimum wage for single people will be 2,826 Turkish liras ($377) a month, up from 2,324 Turkish liras a month ($310), Zehra Zümrüt Selçuk said.

The Turkish Central Bank is aware of its responsibility in reaching the medium-term inflation target of 5%, said Governor Naci Ağbal on Dec. 25.

The bank will implement all aspects of the inflation-targeting framework, he said at his presentation to the committee on planning and budget of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey.