Azerbaijan’s external debt stood at $7,172.6 million (12,208.5 million manats) as of July 1, which accounts for 18.9% of the country’s GDP, said Azerbaijani Ministry of Finance. The statistics on borrowings include direct liabilities of the Azerbaijani government and contingent liabilities for loans attracted under state guarantee. Azerbaijan’s external debt consists mainly of funds raised…
Pressure on the increase of costs in the next several years will be enormous, and there are worries about the government’s ability to withstand that, said Fiscal Discipline Council’s member Andzs Ubelis. According to him, the government’s recently approved outlook on economic growth this year of 3.7% is realistic and satisfactory. Latvia’s economy is expected…
Poor households will gain very little from the recently approved tax reform. There is a large number of unemployed people, which will not the change with PIT, according to results of a study performed by Stockholm School of Economics in Riga and economic policy research center Biceps. At the same time, the reform does not…
The total proportion of grey economy in Latvia’s fishing industry may be around 40%, says fish processing company Brivais vilnis chairman Arnolds Babris. “I think its presence in the fishing industry is roughly the same as it is in the country – around 40%,” said Babris. He admits there are companies in the industry, which…
Overall, Latvian consumers are satisfied with the purchases they make on Internet stores. 65.3% of respondents believe Internet stores are safe and reliable. 44.7% of respondents say they have never had any problems when shopping on the Internet, according to results of a survey performed by Gudriem.lv. People who have had problems often mention two…
Belarus may close the year 2017 with the inflation below 7%, Belarusian Prime Minister Andrei Kobyakov said after the government conference chaired by Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko. “The inflation keeps reducing and the tendency is strong. We are slightly behind the Russian Federation in terms of the seven-month inflation rate, but we are doing better…
Industrial production in Ukraine in July declined by 2.6% YoY, against a 3.8% rise in June and a 1.2% rise in May, the State Statistics Service of Ukraine has said. The authority said that this was linked to a decline in mining and quarry development industry by 9.4%, a 10.2% decrease in the supply of…