Page 56 - bne_December 2017_20171204

56 I New Europe in Numbers bne December 2017
Baltics GDP
Estonia to replace Latvia as growth leader in the Baltics this year
Russia monetary policy rate vs inflation
Estonia will be the fastest growing economy in the Baltics this year, the European Commission predicted in its autumn economic forecast released on November 9.
The outlook forecasts that Estonia will overtake Latvia as the regional growth leader in comparison to the previous outlook published in May. The Estonian economy is now predicted to grow 4.4% in 2017, a 2.1pp revision in comparison to the previous forecast.
Latvia is likely to register growth of 4.2% this year – also a steep upwards, 1pp more than the May forecast. The outlook for Lithuania was also considerably revised upwards as the Commission added 0.9pp to its forecast growth of 3.8% in 2017.
Russia's inflation hits new historic low at 2.7% in October
Russia's Consumer Price Index (CPI) in October fell again to an extraordinary low of 2.7% year-on-year down from the already low 3% seen in September, Rosstat statistics agency said on November 7.
Inflation has strongly overshooting the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) target of 4% set for 2017, diving from double-digit price growth in less than two years.
However, the CBR has pointed to stubborn inflationary expectations and other medium-terms inflationary risks so will probably stick to the moderately tight monetary policy despite the pressure from the government to support growth with lower interest.
Car sales in Russia up 17.3 % in October
Sales of new passenger cars and LCVs in Russia increased by 17.3% y/y in October, the Association of European Business, which follows the market, said in a press release on November 9.
In total, 148,597 units were sold in October, and 1,277,938 in the January- October period.
Domestic names continue to lead the sales, contrary to the situation during the boom years. The iconic Lada, manufactured by the country's largest carmaker Avtovaz, controlled by Renault, was the biggest winner, with a 23% increase in sales y/y in October and 17% in the January-October period.
Czechia's unemployment rate hits new all-time low of 3.6% in October
The Czech unemployment rate hit a new all-time low of 3.6% in October, the Czech National Bank (CNB) reported on November 8.
The number of job vacancies has been approaching the number of unemployed and is expected to reach parity soon.
The decrease of long-term unemployment (24+ months) and unemployment with length of 6-9 months had the largest contribution to the reduction of total unemploy- ment. Also, the ratio of the total number of unemployed to the number of unfilled vacancies fell to 1.3, the lowest since the new methodology was introduced in 1995.
Russian car sales
Czech unemployment
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