Germany’s economy continues to pick up speed, and a good upward impulse is expected to remain in force in the coming years. This is clear from the latest forecasts of the German government presented by the Ministry of Economy. According to the new forecasts of the authorities, Germany’s GDP will grow in this year by 2,0%, instead of 1,5%, as previously expected. This would be the best growth since 2011. In 2018, forecasts were also increased from 1.6% to an economic expansion of 1.9 percent.
In September 2017, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) in France fell 0.2% on a monthly basis after an increase of 0,5% in August. This decline is mainly due to the seasonal decline in service prices and to a lesser extent to the slight decrease in food prices. Energy prices also decreased slightly. Conversely, the prices of manufactured products have increased.
Over the past week, we have also seen an increase in industry in Italy, which confirms good data from the European economy.
Exports, which increased by 8.1% compared to September the previous year, also developed stronger. In the previous month, the increase in exports was only 5.5% - the slowest increase since February. However, the markets expected an increase of 8.8% in September.
China’s trade surplus dropped sharply to $28.47 billion in September 2017 from USD 40.94 billion in the same month of the previous year and below the market consensus of USD 39.50 billion. This is the smallest trade surplus since March, as exports are smaller than imports.
The import growth data are extremely important as China represents an important consumer market for global producers.
European Central Bank (ECB) bankers are considering reducing the monthly bond purchase programme of at least half the volume since the beginning of January 2018 and keeping their programme active for at least nine months.
Reducing the volume of quantitative easing to EUR 30 billion per month from the current EUR 60 billion is a viable solution.
US consumer prices rose 0.5 percent in September - the biggest increase of eight months.On an annual basis, consumer prices rose 2.2 percent in September after 1.9 percent in August.
The U.S. Labour Ministry said today that weekly applications have dropped by 15,000 to 243,000, taking into account seasonal factors.
The growth of overseas markets is also dictated by the good season of the accounts. This, with a combination of expectations for tax reform and an increase in interest rates, predicts a good end of the year for the stock markets.
In Bulgaria the Board of Directors of Monbat AD has adopted the draft prospectus for the primary public offering of convertible corporate bonds. The company reported that it was presented to the Financial Supervision Commission (FSC) and is already waiting for approval by the regulator.
We are talking about issuing convertible bonds up to EUR 30 million. The Board of Directors of the lead-acid battery manufacturer was empowered to take this decision at the last general meeting of shareholders The duration of the conversion bonds was set at 7 years, the interest EURIBOR + 3% but not less than 3%. The principal will be partially repaid on 5th year (20%), 6th year (30%) and 7th year (50%).
Unfortunately, last week the BSE continued its hesitant performance, with Sophiks falling below 670 points at low turnover.
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