Korea's Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Korea once again disagree over interest rate policy. The finance ministry criticised the Bank of Korea’s decision to increase the base rate to 4.25%, saying that the hike would hurt confidence as well as domestic consumption. The ministry said the pre-emptive move to contain inflation would coll the economy excessively.
Turkey’s central bank said the upward trend in inflation will continue in June and July, and that end-year inflation is likely to be above the targeted 5%. The inflationary effect of Turkey’s weakening exchange rate will be significant in June, but inflation will decline in August. The central bank said that if funds continue to leave Turkey in the immediate future, it will take the necessary steps to control inflation expectations. Earlier this month, the central bank raised its key interest rates by 175 basis points, well above the market expectations and the first rate hike on five years. May consumer prices increased by 1.9%, bringing yearly inflation to 9.9%.
Slovak unemployment dropped to 10.6% in May, the lowest level since 1993, falling 0.48% in one month, the Centre for Labour, Social Affairs and Family said today.
Brazil's largest private bank, Banco Bradesco, has named Bernardo Parnes as director-general of its investment bank Banco Bradesco de Investimento (BBI). Parnes will manage BBI's capital markets division and the brokerage unit in New York. Parnes previously worked for Citigroup and Merrill Lynch and local financial group Safra. Bradesco VP José Luiz Acar Pedro heads the bank, while managing director Sérgio de Oliveira runs the brokerage unit in Brazil. Bradesco created BBI in February this year to focus on capital markets and M&A.