Macroeconomics

BELGRADE - The IMF Executive Board has decided that a first review under a stand-by arrangement with Serbia was successful, and Serbian Finance Minister Sinisa Mali said on Thursday the decision was another confirmation of the appropriateness of Serbia's economic policy and structural and institutional reforms.

Fears that the British economy is heading for recession mounted sharply after the Bank of England raised borrowing costs by more than anticipated.

The Bank of England on June 22 decided to lift its main interest rate by half a percentage point to a fresh 15-year high of 5 percent.

Japan's consumer prices rose 3.2 percent year-on-year in May, slowing from 3.4 percent in April, government data showed on June 23.

The figure, which excludes volatile fresh food prices, beat market expectations and was higher than the 3.1 percent recorded in March.

Inflation is, of course, not only a Greek problem or just an imported problem. It's also not like a storm that can't be dealt with and you just wait for it to pass. Nor, again, is it a neutral phenomenon: It redistributes wealth. As long as consumption holds up, producers and retailers raise prices and profits. Are we experiencing greedflation?

Inflation expectations for the end of 2023 increased from 37.12 percent in May to 38.55 percent in June, the Central Bank's Survey of Market Participants showed on June 16.

The 12-month ahead expectations also rose from 29.8 percent to 30.65 percent.

The government is considering revising the medium-term program in September, Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz has said.

The revised program will provide a framework for fiscal and monetary policies and include structural reforms, Yılmaz said in an interview with private broadcaster CNN Türk.

U.S. consumer prices barely rose in May and the annual increase in inflation was the smallest in more than two years, though underlying price pressures remained strong.

A commission is set to hold its first meeting later this week to discuss a hike in minimum wages for millions of workers.

Representatives from the government, labor union Türk-İş and the Turkish Confederation of Employers' Association (TİSK) will gather on June 13 at the Labor Ministry.

Even if a reduction of value-added tax is not the solution, the continuation of high food prices is a problem that is taking a toll on society.

The Greek market suffered from a lack of transparency and healthy competition even before the current inflation crisis began, and while some efforts were made to deal with these problems, they were obviously not enough. 

Chinese inflation came in flat again in May, official figures showed on June 9, as the country's economy sputters owing to softening demand and falling exports, leading to calls for a rate cut and a bigger government stimulus.

The consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.2 percent on-year, from 0.1 percent in April, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), said.