Inflation

Greece's annual headline consumer price index turned negative in January at -0.2 percent year-on-year, from 0.7 percent in the previous month, statistics service ELSTAT data showed on Thursday.

The data also showed the EU-harmonized inflation rate slowed to 0.2 percent last month from 1.0 percent in December.      

Drinks maker Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company reported higher-than-expected full-year sales and profits on Wednesday, as improving economic conditions boosted sales volumes and prices.

The company, which sells Coca-Cola drinks in 28 countries mostly in Europe, said it expected the improvement to continue this year with "further economic growth and healthy inflation."

Turkey will prioritize lowering inflation to single digits and keeping the current account deficit under control while advancing reforms to boost growth and make the economy resistant to shocks, Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Şimşek has told Reuters. 

Economic growth in Bulgaria will remain strong in 2018 and is expected to reach 3.7%, the European Commission's winter economic forecast says.

Turkey’s annual inflation was 10.4 percent in January, easing from December’s 11.9 percent, data from the Turkish Statistics Institute (TÜİK) showed on Feb. 5.

Unemployment in the eurozone has remained at the lowest levels for the past nine years, аccording to the European Statistical Office (Eurostat) published on Wednesday 31 January.

It is clear that in December 2017 unemployment in the euro area countries was 8.7%, the lowest level since January 2009.

The Turkish Central Bank on Jan. 30 increased Turkey’s year-end inflation forecast from 7 percent to 7.9 percent under a tight monetary policy stance, which focused on bringing down inflation.

The Central Bank’s main goal this year is to increase the effectiveness of its monetary policy and rein in double-digit inflation, Governor Murat Çetinkaya told Reuters in an interview on Jan. 25.

After Bulgaria took over the presidency of the EU, it was again talked about the possibility of our country joining the Eurozone, Nova TV tells. The TV organizes a dispute about whether prices would rise in Bulgaria if our country adopts the euro as its currency?

Consumer prices in Bulgaria increased by 2.8 per cent on an annual basis in December 2017. The average annual inflation for the previous year compared to the previous one was 2.1%. For comparison, the average annual inflation rate in 2016 was negative (-0.8%). Thus, the indicator returns to positive territory for the first time in three years, according to NSI data.