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56 I New Europe in Numbers bne November 2017
Borsa Istanbul benchmark BIST-100 index
Bourse Istanbul attracts $50mn net inflows in week ending October 6
Belarus gross intl reserves $mn
Turkey’s stock market has been one of the best performing in the world this despite the unsettled politics. Turkish equities experienced an inflow of $50mn in the week ending October 6, Turkey's central bank said on October 12, even as the lira tanked on a new row between Ankara and Washington.
The total equities inflow so far this year tops $3.11bn, in line with the scope of portfolio inflows into the emerging markets universe. Although the Istanbul bourse has experienced several all-time highs this year, it was the worst per- forming major emerging markets stock market during the month of September, adding to anxieties that Turkey's economy could be running out of steam. There has been an overall inflow of $7.43bn into the debt securities in the year so far.
Belarus forex reserves increase by 3.9% in September to $7.3bn
The foreign exchange reserves of Belarus increased by $273mn or 3.9% month- on-month to $7.267bn in September, following a 4.9 m/m growth in August
and a 25.2% m/m jump in June, the National Bank of Belarus (NBB) said in
a statement on October 6.
The result was attributed to September's disbursement of a $700mn loan by the Russian government, as well as revenues from the collection of export duties on oil products. The placement of forex-denominated bonds by the NBB, as well as an increase in the price of monetary gold, also added to the result. On October 6, S&P Global Ratings said in a note that NBB has FX obligations to domestic banks of about $2bn and a government FX deposit of around $4bn, underpinned by a recent bond issuance.
Baltics' inflation surges in September
The Lithuanian consumer price index (CPI) surged to 4.8% y/y in September, adding 0.4pp compared with the annual reading the previous month, Statistics Lithuania said on October 9.
The September reading – the fastest annual price growth since mid-2011 – extends the surge in the Lithuanian CPI that is part of a regional phenomenon across Central Europe. Annual inflation growth of 4.8% is the highest rate currently found in the region and refuted predictions that the August surge marked peak inflation this year.
All the economies of the Baltics are booming, but that is increasingly coming at the cost of rising inflation which is high in the other two states as well.
Fitch Ratings ups Russia's GDP outlook to 2% on consumption recovery
Fitch Ratings upgraded Russia's GDP outlook for 2017 to 2% from previous 1.6%, according to the Global Economic Outlook (GEO) of the agency.
The agency noted that Russia's GDP growth accelerated in the second quarter of 2017 to 2.5% thanks to private consumption and investment.
Fitch believes a consumption-led recovery is supported by the breakdown of the second-quarter GDP data. "Consumption [growth] accelerated to +3.3% y/y in 2Q17, remaining the only sustainable support factor for GDP, while investment
and inventories are volatile," Gazprombank commented on October 3.
Baltics inflation
Russia inflation, wages and unemployment
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