Business confidence higher in Germany, down in France
June 27, 2006
The Ifo institutes newly released business climate index shows that business sentiment in Germany is higher than it has been in 15 years. The index rose to 106.8 in June, up from a reading of 105.7 in May. In addition, separate confidence surveys looking at Italian and Dutch sentiment show increases in […]
Turkey drops withholding tax as equities, currency decline
June 22, 2006
Turkey will discontinue a 15 percent withholding tax that was imposed on foreign investors in January. The change in policy brings the nation in line with European Union provisions on domicile and residence rules for the taxation of individuals, according to Turkeys finance minister. The rule changes come at a time when […]
US housing starts up despite low sentiment among homebuilders
June 20, 2006
Housing starts in the United States were up more than had been expected in May. Overall, new starts were up 5 percent to an annual figure of 1.96 million starts. Analysts had expected that the annualized rate would be 1.85 million. The May figure also was above a revised annualized rate in […]
Riksbank raises Swedish interest rates to 2.25 percent
June 20, 2006
The Swedish central bank has predicted that that the economy in Sweden will grow by 3.7 percent in 2006 and that consumer price inflation would reach 1.5 percent. The Swedish economy has been experiencing strong growth in both domestic and exports sectors. In consequence of these forecasts, the Riksbank raised interest rates by […]
Eurozone interest rates rise, UK rates unchanged
June 8, 2006
As expected, the European Central Bank raised interest rates in the Eurozone on Thursday. The rate rise was by 25 basis points ti 2.75 percent. Some analysts had speculated earlier in the week that it would hike rates by 50 basis points, but sentiment had turned to an expectation of the smaller rise […]