In Brief
Major increase in borrowing Corporate and household borrowing rose at end-May by about 15 percent within one year, or 22.6 billion euros, climbing to 168.12 billion euros or 80 percent of Greece’s gross domestic product, according to Bank of Greece data published yesterday. The annual rise in mortgages came to 25 percent, reaching 58.27 billion euros, while consumer loans rose by 23 percent year-on-year. Sales rise Retail sales by volume rose 3.2 percent year-on-year in May, after a 1.3 percent annual drop in April, data by the country’s statistics service (NSS) showed yesterday. Retail sales by revenues grew 6.3 percent year-on-year in April after a 1.7 percent rise in the previous month. (Reuters) Akbank profit Akbank, Turkey’s largest private lender by market capitalization, posted a 35 percent annual rise in first-half net profit yesterday, as loans grew strongly despite Turkey’s high interest rates. Akbank, part-owned by Citigroup, turned a net profit of 1.2 billion lira (669 million euros), it said in a statement. (Reuters) Nokia-Serbia Nokia Siemens Networks said yesterday it has won an order from Telekom Srbija to extend its GSM and 3G WCDMA network in Serbia, but did not disclose the value of the deal. It includes 3G radio and core equipment as well as an extension of the prepaid system, Nokia Siemens said in a statement. (Reuters)
