Poland’s Labour and Social Policy Ministry lowered the unemployment forecast for December 2006 from 16.4% to 16.2%. According to deputy minister Robert Kwiatkowski, there is a chance that unemployment will fall below the 16 percent threshold. "It is real. I hope we will be able to get it even lower," he said. In April the unemployment rate fell to 17.2% from 17.8% in March. The main reason was high demand for seasonal jobs in agriculture and in the construction sector. "Training for the jobless and effective use of the European Social Fund have also significantly contributed to combating unemployment," said Kwiatkowski.
Taiwanese central bank Governor Perng Fainan said that domestic interest rates are not yet “neutral”, at a level that neither stimulates nor tightens the Taiwanese economy. Fainan assured the media that the central bank will do its best to contain domestic inflation. It plans to offer 80 billion Taiwan dollars worth of 364-day certificates of deposit on May 12, its fifth one-year debt offer this current year. Taiwan's inflation increased to 1.23% in April year-on-year as compared to 0.4% growth in March.
Georgian President Saakashvili upbraided his Prime Minister, Nogaideli, for preventing Austrian firm Schirhofer from investing in the country: “Georgia's business environment is our main success. We have freed up everything, that's why we have economic growth. Therefore... I am categorically ordering you: Do not allow even a single instance of artificial barriers being created against any specific business, however small. Fortunately, we have resolved this problem for the most part, thank God for that. I am very proud of the fact that we have eradicated this problem. God forbid us from having any setbacks with respect to business”.
South Africa's AngloGold Ashanti has budgeted $7.5 million for greenfield exploration in Colombia this year, the third most important destination this year for such spending behind Australia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, CEO Bobby Godsell said. "Our target is to identify a significant ore body with inferred resources by the end of 2008," Godsell said in a presentation at the Merrill Lynch global metals, mining & steel conference in Miami.
The Brazilian branch of Portugal's Banco Português de Negócios (BPN) has set up an investment bank, local financial daily Gazeta Mercantil reported. The new investment bank will advise Brazilians firms wanting to access foreign markets and Portuguese companies looking to enter Brazil, the daily said. BPN Brasil president Carlos Catraio has hired Roberto Perez to lead the investment bank. Perez previously worked for HSBC. The investment bank will target SMEs, primarily in the real estate and tourism sectors.
The expanding Indian economy and high profitability in business has led to Indian corporates absorbing around 68% of foreign currency convertible bond issues on the Asia-Pacific market, excluding Japan. India's share of the global market was around 10%, or $39 billion, in 2005. This year Indian incorporates have so raised $3.2 billion, of the region’s total issues, estimated at $4.7 billion.