In Brief
Michaniki gets green light for power plant Michaniki SA, Greece’s fifth-biggest builder, received government approval to build a 9-million-euro ($14 million) hydroelectric power plant, the company said in a filing yesterday to the Athens Exchange. Michaniki said the 5.4-megawatt station will be built at Karpenisi, in the region of Evrytania, central Greece. (Bloomberg) Greek PPI picks up to 11.9 percent Greek producer price inflation (PPI) accelerated to 11.9 percent year-on-year in June from 10.5 percent in May, mainly due to high energy prices, data from the National Statistics Service showed yesterday. The increase brought the 12-month average annual PPI rise to end-June to 7.4 percent. In the same month, consumer inflation surged to a 10-year high of 4.9 percent year-on-year. (Reuters) Flood funds The Romanian government yesterday put up 50 million lei ($22 million) to rebuild infrastructure damaged by recent floods and granted financial aid to affected villagers. «We will ensure the population get the support they need so they can get over this situation,» Interior Minister Cristian David told reporters after an emergency cabinet meeting. Four people died in floods in the northeastern county of Maramures and two are still missing. Authorities said some of the region’s 12,000 evacuees were now returning to their homes as floodwaters receded. The floods also damaged 2,000 houses, 1,400 small bridges and 20,000 hectares of farmland. David said the government would grant 4.8 million lei from state reserves for food and materials such as mattresses and sleeping bags. Families of those killed would receive 5,000 lei. Villagers with partially destroyed houses will get aid of between 300 and 500 lei depending on the extent of the damage. (Reuters) Turkish tourism Turkish income from tourism jumped 26 percent in the second quarter to $4.69 billion, as the number of visitors to the country rose. About 7.6 million people visited Turkey between April and June of this year, the state statistics office in Ankara said on its website yesterday. Turkey is seeking to attract revenue from tourism to help finance a current account gap that widened in May for the 12th consecutive month. Turkey’s financing situation is «worrying,» Moody’s Investors Service said July 9. (Bloomberg) Romanian inflation Romania’s Finance Minister Varujan Vosganian forecast next year’s inflation would fall to 4-5 percent from 8.6 percent in June, and said he would propose cutting 2009 public wage growth to 4 percent. In an interview with Reuters he reiterated his plans to propose a government budget deficit of 2 percent of GDP for next year, down from the 2008 target ceiling of 2.3 percent. «We want to increase (state) wages similar to the inflation rate… 4 percent,» he said in the interview. Vosganian also said economic policies should address potential social tensions stemming from wealth differences with the European Union, in addition to preventing risks of economic overheating. Romania needed fast economic growth to catch up with Western European living standards, even though its consumption-driven expansion has raised worries at the central bank about long-term stability. (Reuters)
