Page 62 - bne_Magazine_April_2018

62 I New Europe in Numbers bne April 2018
Retail sales in Turkey
Turkey’s revised retail sales index points to 11% annual expansion in January
Turkey's calendar-adjusted retail sales volume index rose by 10.7% y/y in January, the highest annual growth recorded since last August, national statistics office TUIK reported on March 19.
TUIK also announced that it has changed the base year for the retail sales index calculation to 2015. The statistics office's recent revisions have raised question marks over the reliability of the data.
Strong growth but a risky outlook for Central and Eastern Europe
All economies in the Central, Southeast and Eastern Europe region (CESEE) experienced positive growth last year, for the first time in a decade, as they benefitted from global growth. This trend is set to continue, as major international economies are simultaneously expanding for the first time since 2010, says a new report from the Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies (wiiw). “The coordinated global upswing has further to run, and we expect CESEE economies to continue to benefit,” writes the institute.
Consumption is back as a driver for the Russian economy, but it is not strong enough to fuel a boom
Consumption is back as a driver for the Russian economy, but it is not strong enough to fuel another boom.
“In 2017, household consumption was an important driver of economic growth,” according to Sberbank analysts who expect consumption
to continue growing 1-2 pp faster than GDP in the coming years. Nomi- nal wages have been rising for several years, but in January the more important real disposable income went back into the black for the first time in several years.
Sberbank becomes the second most valuable bank in Europe
Russia’s state-owned banking behemoth Sberbank became the second most valuable bank in Europe after HSBC on February 26, when its market capitalisation of €91.73bn overtook Spain's Banco Santander.
Sberbank has become something of a tourist stock – international portfolio investors that want a limited exposure to Russian equities, such as index trackers, tend to buy Sberbank’s shares before any other. Sberbank is the main creditor of the Russian economy and holds the largest share of the deposit market.
Russia income vs retail sales
Sberbank vs MOEX Russia Index
www.bne.eu