Page 13 - bne_March2019_20190306 magazine

bne March 2019 Companies & Markets I 13
services (-87K), agriculture (-54K), construction (-47K) and industry (-40K). The data reveal that construction and agriculture, which employ a large share of low-skilled workers, recorded -363K and -250K year-to-date declines in employment, respectively, showing that they have been impacted the most from last year’s financial volatility...,” Muhammet Mercan of ING Bank said in a research note.
“Employment growth in services and industry compensated for the losses in construction employment until recently but the recent data shows signs of job generation weakening in these sectors, too,” he added.
“The deterioration in activity first had a negative impact
on construction sector employment since the unregistered employment is high in this sector. The share in unregistered employment in the services sector is also high which implies that the decelerating economic activity would continue weigh on the services sector. However, the strong performance of the tourism sector as well as the help of the government incentives might play a constructive role in this sector. The share of
Kosovo signs €210mn railway upgrade project with Italy’s GCF
bne IntelliNews
Kosovan railway company INFRAKOS has signed
a €210mn deal with Italian company Generale Construzioni Ferroviarie (GCF) for the reconstruction of the Fushe Kosova-Hani i Elezit railway line that leads
to the Macedonian border, the government announced
on September 6.
The railway line is part of Rail Route 10 that leads from the Kosovo-Serbia border to the Kosovo-Macedonia border. Rail Route 10 connects the existing railway line of a total length of 252 km, starting from Kraljevo, Serbia to the Gjorce Petrov municipality in Macedonia via Pristina, Kosovo.
148km of the railway line crosses Kosovo, starting from Leshak at the Serbian border and ending at Hani i Elezit at the border with Macedonia.
unregistered employment in the industrial sector is rather limited, rendering layoffs rather costly. As per the leading factors, the expectations for the number of unemployed in 12-month forward looking as well as the course of the Capacity Utilization Rate underline the negative outlook,” Ozlem Bayraktar Goksen of Tacirler Invest said in a research note.
Retail sales suffer record contraction
Also on February 15, the TUIK said in a separate press release that Turkey's calendar-adjusted retail sales volume index declined by 9.2% y/y in December, the biggest annual contraction since the data set was first compiled in 2010. The December data extended the longest annual contraction period on record to four months.
The initial data set for Q4’s GDP growth is now completed. The Q4 growth data will be announced on March 11.
Worse-than-expected Q4 growth might help the central bank justify liquidity easing as Turkey pursues an economic recovery.
Rehabilitation works will last 24 months and should end in 2021, the government said in the statement.
Funds are provided by the government through a loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and partly from the EU’s IPA funds.
Kosovo Railways’ CEO Agron Thaci said that this project will have a positive impact not only on the country’s economy, but also in the region and beyond.
“This project will have a positive impact not only on the country’s economy, but also in the region and beyond”
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