Macroeconomics

BELGRADE - The increase of consumer prices in Serbia totalled 1.7 percent in 2014, which constitutes the lowest inflation rate in the past four decades, the analysis drafted by the Ministry of Trade shows.

Judging by the expectations of economists surveyed by business channel CNBC-e, rate cuts are a given at the Central Bank of Turkey?s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) rate-setting meeting on Feb. 24.

Paul Krugman, known for his pro-Greek positions, stated that he is of the opinion that no solutions were given by Friday’s Eurogroup.

His “Delphic Demarche”, which points to the Delphi oracle of ancient times explained why, in his personal blog. He writes:

OK, we have an agreement re Greece, according to which … what?

Azerbaijan's Central Bank has suddenly devalued the country's currency by 33.5 percent against the dollar.
                   
Like Russia, Azerbaijan has been hurt by the sharp decline in the price of oil, its main export. Russia's currency has lost more than half of its value in the past year.
                   

Greece's current account deficit widened in December compared to the same month a year earlier while tourism receipts rose slightly, according to central bank data published on Friday.

The deficit stood at 0.87 billion euros ($0.98 billion) dollar) versus a deficit of 0.24 billion euros in December 2013, due to lower inflows of EU funds.

Turkey needs to maintain its fight against inflation until it falls below an annual rate of 5 percent for good, Finance Minister Mehmet ?im?ek said Feb. 18 in an interview on Turkish news channel CNN Türk.

He added too much talk over the Central Bank's monetary policy may cause concerns among investors.

By Yiannis Papadoyiannis

The bulk of deposits withdrawn from Greek bank accounts in the last two-and-a-half months due to political and financial uncertainty has stayed inside the country, stashed away in safe deposit boxes, mattresses and investment products.

The ?urozone area has shown a 0.3% GDP growth over the last quarter of 2014 as compared to the previous one, while the EU28 countries altogether performed even better with 0.4% increase according to a Eurostat report published on Friday.

Compared to results from the same period of 2013, the seasonally adjusted GDP of the eurozone rose by 0.9%, and by 1.3% in all EU28 countries.

The recent improvement in some key euro zone economic data represents a significant turn in the economy, according to a Reuters poll of economists, although they still see a one-in-four chance of Greece leaving the currency area.

NBS: Reference rate to remain at 8 percent

BELGRADE -- The Executive Board of the National Bank of Serbia (NBS) decided at its Thursday session to keep the reference rate at eight percent, the central bank released.