Latvia, Slovakia, Estonia and Spain experienced the EU’s highest inflation rate in May. Latvia's inflation was 7.1%; Slovakia's, 4.8%; Estonia’s 4.6% and Spain’s 4.1%.
The lowest inflation was in Poland at 1.5%; Finland; 1.7%, the Netherlands, 1.8% and Sweden, 1.9%. The euro zone's harmonised index of consumer prices rose to 2.5% in May compared to 2% a year earlier.
The Chinese National Bureau of Statistics released figures showing that urban fixed asset investment was up 30.3% during the first five months of 2006 compared to the same period last year. The growth rate is far above the government's targeted growth rate of 18%. Fixed asset investment by state-owned and state-controlled companies increased 20.4% on the previous year to 1.2 trillion yuan. Total fixed asset investment was worth 2.5 trillion yuan.
The Philippines recorded a budget surplus for a second consecutive month in May. The surplus of 5.8 billion Phillipines pesos (PHP) helped reduce the deficit to PHP 44.2 for the first five months of the year, compared to PHP 50 billion last year. The surplus was achieved despite a shortfall in the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s collection target in April and May.
Argentina’s private sector foreign debts totalled $47.5 billion at the end of 2005, the Banco Central de la Republica Argentina said yesterday. The private sector’s debts dropped by $7.1 billion over the year. Private foreign debt has decreased by 40% since the end of 2001, when it stood at $78.1 billion. Argentina’s main creditors are investment funds and savings banks headquartered in Germany, Italy, the USA and Japan. The country’s total foreign debt at the end of 2005 was $117.2 billion.
Bank loans at Raiffeisen Bank Albania, which holds the largest share of the assets in the country’s banking sector, grew 18 times to a total of 16.9 billion Albanian lek (ALL) in 2005. In its first full year operating in Albania after acquiring the local savings bank in 2003, the largest share of Raiffeisen Bank’s lending was to the corporate sector, which received 64% of funding. Amall and medium enterprises accounted for 20% of the total. Customer deposits dropped by 7% in 2005, reflecting strong competition in the market from 16 players.