The trade imbalance continues to increase in Cyprus as import growth outstrips export growth. In August the trade deficit widened to EUR 481.4 mln in August 2008 from 459.5 mln in August 2007, according to preliminary figures. Total imports/arrivals in August alone reached EUR 564.3 mln, while total exports/dispatches recorded EUR 82.8 mln. Of the
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The Ministry of Finance is bracing for a deterioration in its initial estimates for economic growth in the light of the global credit crunch with a good possibility that the GDP growth forecast for 2H08, 2009 and 2010 will be marked lower. The Ministry does not anticipate that the economy would strengthen before the end
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At the invitation of Ivan Iskrov, Governor of the Bulgarian National Bank, the Governors or the representatives of the Bank of Albania, the Bulgarian National Bank, the Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Central Bank of Cyprus, the National Bank of the Republic of Macedonia, the Bank of Greece, the Central Bank of Montenegro,
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European stocks dived by more than 7 percent midday on Friday, swept up in a global panic sell-off as investors feared governments' efforts to thaw credit markets would fail to ward off a global recession. Fragile banks and insurers were among the biggest fallers, as discouraging news in the insurance sector worried investors of significantly
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The London Interbank Offered Rate or Libor for borrowing between banks was fixed on Friday at 4.81875% for 3 months deals, but the euro borrowing rate for 3 months hit a fresh record high of 5.366%. Three months Libor for sterling was also at record high of 6.285%. The overnight rate for dollars at the
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Russia's Rosevrobank, a mid-sized lender, has asked clients to pay back their mortgages right away rather than risk the prospect of real estate prices falling 30 percent, the bank said. "We are warning clients that they are in a crisis situation, that we are in this situation with them, and that both of us need
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Europe and Asia saw panic selling of stocks on Friday, knocking the benchmark world equity index to a 5-year trough, while oil fell to a one-year low as fears grew policymakers are not making enough efforts to contain the financial crisis. Government bonds in Japan and the euro zone — usually safer assets which outperform
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The third meeting in the context of the UN-led negotiations between President of the Republic Demetris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat, to reach a comprehensive mutually acceptable settlement to the protracted question of Cyprus problem, was completed on Friday. The leaders did not make any statements after the meeting. Special Adviser of
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The European Commission has agreed to send Commission experts to Cyprus to help local authorities achieve the community goal to halve traffic accidents in Europe by 2010. The request was submitted by Communications and Works Minister Nicos Nicolaides to Enrico Grillo Director of Inland Transport, DG TREN, on the sidelines of the meeting of the
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The world's economic powers faced huge pressure on Friday to devise drastic remedies to revive the banking system and end panic selling in global financial markets. Finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of Seven nations meet in Washington against a backdrop of plunging shares after bank bailouts, liquidity injections and coordinated interest rate
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