Page 24 - bne IntelliNews weekly newspaper June 23

Weekly Lists
June 23, 2017 www.intellinews.com I Page 24
bne:Credit
Economic health hands Slovakia chance to invest in the future, OECD says
Poroshenko, IMF head agree on need to accelerate pace of reforms in Ukraine
Slovakia should take advantage of its robust economic performance to implement reform that will increase living standards for all, the OECD suggests in a new economic survey of the country released on June 21.
Regional disparities, education, and health are the top priorities, the international institution report says. The fight against corruption and tax evasion and issues regarding unemployment, the Roma population, and the environment also persist, the OECD notes.
International Monetary Fund ((IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko “agreed on the need to accelerate the pace of reforms to secure stronger and inclusive economic growth” in the war-torn country, the Fund said on June 20.
Lagarde commended Poroshenko on the progress made so far under a $17.5bn support programme agreed in March 2015. “Dis- cussions focused on pending pension and land reform, and on measures to speed up privatisation and ensure concrete results in anticorruption efforts,” an IMF spokesperson said in a statement.
Ukraine’s international reserves reached $16.7bn in April after a new $1bn tranche from the IMF released under the Fund’s aid programme, and a second €600mn tranche of macro-financial assistance from the European Union.
Senior Turkish government officials have called on Fitch Ratings to upgrade Turkey’s credit rating after the rating agency lifted its GDP growth forecast for the country.
“Fitch raised its GDP growth forecasts because its previous de- cision to cut Turkey’s rating was political and was an operation against the Turkish economy. It must upgrade Turkey now!” tweeted Bulent Gedikli, one of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s aides.
Gedikli dismissed comments that the strong 5% y/y GDP growth registered in the first quarter was mainly due to loans extended under the Credit Guarantee Scheme and that the economy will slow. “Those analyses are wrong,” he said.
Turkish officials call on Fitch to lift ratings after GDP growth upgrade