In Brief
Intralot gets Tasmanian gaming license Greek lottery systems supplier Intralot said yesterday it has gained a gaming license in Tasmania, expanding its presence in the Australian market. The world’s second-largest lottery systems supplier said it will shortly start to operate a variety of lottery and instant games, including Keno, Bingo and Pick 3. Intralot will offer games through a network of more than 80 points of sale. «We are pleased to expand our presence to a third Australian state in such a short period of time,» said Intralot CEO Constantinos Antonopoulos in a statement. «Keno and instant tickets are extremely popular in Tasmania and Intralot is looking forward to increasing the gaming choices of the Tasmanian players.» Tasmania has a population of 500,000. (Reuters) Romanian central bank ups rates to 10 pct BUCHAREST (Reuters) -Romania’s central bank raised interest rates by a quarter point to 10 percent yesterday, tightening borrowing costs for the sixth time running in a bid to cool stubborn inflationary expectations. The bank warned that the short-term outlook for inflation has worsened due to administered price increases, while core inflation data continues to show pressure. «The need to effectively anchor inflationary expectations… requires the continuation of monetary policy restrictiveness,» the bank said in a statement. However, with consumer price growth widely expected to ease in the second half of the year, many analysts expect the bank to pause its rate-rising cycle from now on. Liquidity ratio The central bank of Cyprus plans to ease commercial banks’ minimum liquidity ratio in euros to 20 from 25 percent in a move expected to release millions in available liquidity. A central bank document outlining the proposed changes was sent for publication on Wednesday. It was expected to be published in the island’s next edition of the Official Gazette, issued every Friday, at which time it goes into effect. Marfin Popular Bank said the change would result in the release of additional liquidity of about 400 million euros for the bank. (Reuters) Electricity tariffs Bulgaria will raise electricity prices for households by an average 14 percent and wholesale gas prices by 5.15 percent from Tuesday due to high global energy costs, the state energy regulator said yesterday. The regulator announced lower hikes than initially planned after the government urged it to take into account the impact on the already double-digit inflation in the poorest European Union country. Consumer prices hit 15 percent year-on-year in May. Balkan neighbor Romania also announced yesterday it will raise domestic gas prices by 12.5 percent and electricity prices by 5.3 percent on average from July 1, putting pressure on inflation. (Reuters) Bobov Dol auction Consortium Energia, the Bulgarian group of mining companies run by tycoon Hristo Kovachki, bought the Bobov Dol coal-fired electricity plant at auction for the starting price of 100 million lev ($80 million). The buyer must invest a further 35 million euros ($55 million) over five years to upgrade the plant’s three units with sulfur-purifying equipment to meet European Union emissions limits, Bulgaria’s asset-sales agency said yesterday in an e-mail. (Bloomberg)
