Southeast Europe / Data

Labour costs in Western Europe still four times higher than in Romania and Bulgaria

Iulian Ernst in Bucharest March 28, 2024

Bulgaria has the EU's lowest labour cost, while Romania still lags well behind Poland and Hungary.

Bank lending loses steam in Romania

Iulian Ernst in Bucharest March 27, 2024

The annual increase of the stock of bank loans in Romania has eased gradually from 6.4% y/y in December to 5.7% y/y in January and 4.9% y/y in February.

Romania's GDP per capita surpassed Hungary's in 2023

bne IntelliNews March 27, 2024

Romania has been catching up with the EU average faster than Hungary, which fell into recession in 2023.

Where water stress will be highest by 2050

Martin Armstrong for Statista March 24, 2024

Water is not only the basis of life for animals and plants but is also likely to become a contested resource in parts of the world in the coming decades, reports Statista.

Moldova’s central bank cuts policy rate by 50bp

Iulian Ernst in Bucharest March 22, 2024

National Bank of Moldova said decision aims “to slow down the decrease in inflation”.

Turkey dazzles market with additional 500bp rate hike to 50%

bne IntelliNews March 21, 2024

Central bank also widens spread in overnight lending channel. Authority has been pushing local banks to borrow from the funding facility.

Romania’s construction index plunges by 14.8% y/y in January

bne IntelliNews March 21, 2024

Slump was deepest for residential construction segment.

Southeast Europe’s major cities are emptying out

bne IntelliNews March 19, 2024

Eurostat data shows fall in populations of biggest urban areas in Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania in last five years.

Moldova’s GDP up 0.7% y/y in 2023 thanks to farmers

Iulian Ernst in Bucharest March 18, 2024

Aside from agriculture, most key sectors are still shrinking and the war in neighbouring Ukraine has delayed structural reforms.

Three billion people will live in uninhabitable zones by 2070

bne IntelliNews March 18, 2024

It's predicted that 3bn people will live in zones that have been made uninhabitable (black areas) by 2070, say scientists.

Romania’s public debt reaches 48.9% of GDP at end-2023

bne IntelliNews March 15, 2024

Romania's high fiscal deficit is expected to put pressure on the public debt-to-GDP ratio, eventually pushing it above 50%.

Romania’s inflation drops to 7.2% in February

Iulian Ernst in Bucharest March 14, 2024

February's fall in inflation was smaller than expected, increasing uncertainty about future rate cuts.

North Macedonia’s central bank maintains key rate at 6.3%

bne IntelliNews March 13, 2024

Domestic inflation decelerated to an annual rate of 3% in February, as pressures from food and energy prices decreased.

Moldova’s inflation remains moderate in February

Iulian Ernst in Bucharest March 12, 2024

Inflation has been in the lower half of the 5%+/-1pp target band for three months.

Construction, ICT and agriculture push Romania’s GDP growth to 2.1% in 2023

Iulian Ernst in Bucharest March 11, 2024

Romania’s economy advanced by 1.1% y/y in the last quarter of 2023 and by 2.1% y/y in the full year.

National Bank of Serbia maintains policy rate at 6.5%

bne IntelliNews March 7, 2024

The decision to maintain the reference interest rate was primarily influenced by the global economic landscape, characterised by declining but still elevated inflationary pressures.

Poll shows Bulgarians have turned against Putin

bne IntelliNews March 7, 2024

Bulgaria took a strong pro-Western turn after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Romania’s retail sales post impressive 6.6% y/y advance in January

Iulian Ernst in Bucharest March 7, 2024

Private consumption is expected to be a major growth driver in Romania this year and the January figures are fully consistent with this.

Turkey’s official headline inflation moves up to 15-month high of 67% in February

Akin Nazli in Belgrade March 4, 2024

Central bank watching for lagged effects of rate hikes that have taken benchmark to 45%.

Newly released PMI index shows Romania's manufacturing sector stuck in recession

bne IntelliNews March 4, 2024

The Romanian manufacturing sector faces new shocks from supply chain bottlenecks and higher taxes affecting activity, in the context of already broad-based weakness in demand.

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