Page 7 - BNE_magazine_03_2020 wellness

bne March 2020 The Month That Was I 7
Economics
Eastern Europe
Capital investment in Ukraine increased 15.5% year-on-year
in 2019 vs. 16.4% y/y in 2018, the nation's state statistics service Ukrstat reported on February 24. In particular, industrial capital investments rose 34.7% y/y while capital investments in agriculture dropped 10.0% y/y.
Ukraine retail sales grew by 12.5% year- on-year in real terms in January, keeping the same growth pace as in the previous month, the nation's state statistics service Ukrstat reported on February 20.
Central Europe
Production in Poland’s construction sector expanded 6.5% y/y in unadjusted terms in January, after contracting 3.3% y/y the preceding month, Poland’s statistical office GUS reported on February 21. The rebound in construction surprised analysts who expected investment growth to soften further in Poland.
Poland's consumer sentiment index plunged 2.4 points m/m to 1.3 in February. The index also fell 4.2 points in y/y terms, data showed. Consumer confidence fell for the fifth time in
a row in February.
Czech industrial prices posted the fastest month-on-month growth in January since the beginning of 2011, up by 1.3%, according to the Czech Statistics Office's (CSO) data published on February 24. In annual terms, the industrial prices rose by 2.4%.
Czech inflation recorded its highest year-on-year growth since March 2012, up by 3.6% in January, 0.4 percentage points (pp) compared to December, mostly due to the higher prices of food, alcohol and housing, according to the Czech Statistics Office's (CSO) report published on February 14.
Hungary's economic sentiment lingers at a 40-month low. The economic sentiment index of GKI economics remained virtually unchanged in February, staying near a 40-month
low as business expectations worsened slightly and consumers improved to
a similar extent. Hungary's headline consumer price index accelerated from 4% in December to 4.7% in January, its highest level since 2012.
Hungary's GDP growth surprises to the upside in Q4 and nears 5% for the second straight year. Hungary's Q4 GDP rose 4.5% y/y, bringing full-year growth to 4.9%, the Central Statistics Office (KSH) said.
Southeast Europe
Turkey's current account deficit in December widened to $2.798bn, the country’s central bank said.
A Reuters forecast predicted a deficit of $3.05bn. For 2019, Turkey recorded a current account surplus of $1.67bn – as anticipated, the figure confirmed the first annual current account surplus Turkey has seen since 2001.
Turkey’s industrial production in December beat the market consensus forecast by gaining 8.6% year-on-
year – the fourth consecutive rise seen in the key indicator with the recovery of Turkey’s economy from last year’s recession accelerating.
The registered unemployment rate in Bulgaria stood at 6.3% in January, down by 0.1pp year-on-year – a new post-2004 low. Along with other countries in CEE Bulgaria is suffering from an acute labour shortage.
Bulgaria reported a foreign trade deficit (FOB/FOB) of BGN3.37bn (€1.72bn) in 2019, down 50.8% year on year, as imports fell while exports expanded. Bulgaria posted a trade deficit of BGN2.26bn with EU member states (up 2.2% y/y) and a deficit
of BGN1.12bn with non-EU (third) countries (down 76% y/y).
Eurasia
Iran’s bilateral trade with the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) has surpassed the $1bn mark since the late October implementation of a two-year preferential trade agreement (PTA), IRNA reported on February 9. The temporary PTA between Iran and the Moscow-led EEU – which groups Russia, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Belarus and Kyrgyzstan – is the first such economic agreement signed by the Islamic Republic since it was founded in 1979.
Kazakhstan’s State Statistics Committee confirmed on February 15 Kazakhstan’s GDP growth figure for 2019 at 4.5%. The rise in 2019 underscores Kazakhstan’s ongoing economic recovery.
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