In Brief
Budget deviating from annual targets Budget figures showed significant deviation from annual targets in the January-July period, according to data of the General Accounts Office yesterday. The deficit was up 30.1 percent year-on-year, to 7.9 billion euros, against a target of 8.1 percent. Net revenue was up 3.8 percent against a target of 6.2 percent, mainly as a result of a 28.7 percent rise in tax rebates. Expenditure also increased, by 6.8 percent against a target of 6.3 percent. Finance Ministry officials say the deviations will continue until year-end despite a recovery of revenue in August, given the election costs earlier this month and compensation to fire-stricken farmers. The deficit is projected to overshoot the target by 400 million euros, or 0.2 percent of GDP, for the whole year. Five firms interested in Turkey’s ATV-Sabah ISTANBUL (Reuters) – News Corp, ProSiebenSat.1, RTL Group, Czech CME and Greek Antenna TV are interested in buying Turkey’s ATV-Sabah, an official at the body selling the firm said yesterday. Turkey’s State Deposits and Insurance Fund (TMSF) seized the media assets which now make up ATV-Sabah in April and plans to auction the restructured company on November 7 with a minimum price set at $1.1 billion. The company includes top-rated entertainment channel ATV and major daily Sabah. The TMSF official told Reuters all five firms had bought the documents necessary to take part in the auction. Foreign companies will have to find local partners to bid with as a law limits foreign ownership of broadcasters to 25 percent. Turk welfare reform Turkey’s social security reform is important because it will show the government is sticking to its reform agenda, even though the reform’s financial impact in the near term will be minimal, the World Bank said yesterday. The bank’s Turkey country director Ulrich Zachau also told Reuters in an interview that the country’s large current account deficit would stabilize or possibly come down as data showed its growth rate eased in the second quarter of 2007. (Reuters) Lira firmer Turkey’s lira firmed to fresh six-year highs yesterday, helped by buoyant global markets, but equities eased slightly. The lira strengthened 0.7 percent on the day to close at 1.2235 to the dollar on the interbank market as the greenback weakened globally. In after-hours trade it eased back to 1.2260, while the main stock index gave up earlier gains to close down 0.6 percent at 53,581 points as US stocks turned negative. (Reuters) Cyprus building up Building permits in Cyprus rose in the six-month period to June 5.3 percent in terms of area and 17.3 percent in terms of value year-on-year, Cyprus’s statistics department said yesterday. For the month of June building permits in terms of area fell by 1.7 percent and increased by 6.8 percent in terms of value year-on-year.
