In Brief
June increase in retail sales Retail sales by volume rose 4.5 percent in June on an annual basis, after a 3.2 percent annual increase in May, the National Statistics Service (NSS) said yesterday. A year earlier sales had risen by 10 percent. Retail sales by revenues grew 7.6 percent year-on-year in June after a 6.3 percent rise in the previous month. This was mainly due to retail food stores which saw a 9.1 percent rise in turnover. Surplus Bulgaria’s government will run a hefty budget surplus next year despite plans to cut taxes and hike salaries, it said yesterday. In a macroeconomic forecast for its 2008-2010 budget framework, the Socialist-led government said it forecasts a fiscal surplus of 2.5 percent of gross domestic product, higher than the 2.3 percent surplus it has pledged for 2007. The surplus is meant to counter risks arising from a current account deficit that is expected to swell to 18 percent of GDP in 2007 and ease only slightly to 17.2 percent in 2008. (Reuters) Folli net up Jewelry retailer Folli Follie said yesterday first-half net profits rose 14 percent, above estimates, on stronger business in Asia and lower renovation expenses. Net profits rose to 39.1 million euros versus an average forecast of 37 million euros in a recent Reuters poll of analysts. (Reuters) Geniki losses Geniki Bank, majority owned by France’s Societe Generale, remained in the red in the first half of the year but trimmed group losses to 20.1 million euros, it said yesterday. Loan-loss provisions in the first six months of the year were 19.3 million euros, down from 38.5 million in the same period a year earlier. (Reuters)
