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EU will struggle to gain post-COVID Balkan influence

Location:

BALKANS

The European Commission has prepared for the summit by making public a package of financial support for the Western Balkans as the region struggles to emerge from the COVID-19…

Crisis spurs Cuban monetary reform

Location:

CUBA

This step is essential to advancing the country’s economic reform agenda, but it promises to be tricky, putting pressure on inefficient state companies, threatening savings and…

African central banks face growing political pressures

Location:

AFRICA

The move confirms long-held suspicions that the BoZ is subject to considerable political interference, which has increased as COVID-19 exacerbates the economic pressure on the…

Policy will cut the risk of booming house prices

Location:

INTERNATIONAL

The government in New Zealand, where the market is particularly buoyant, was the first to react in February. It now requires the Reserve Bank to consider house prices when setting…

Inflation and deficits may upset Hungary’s economy

Location:

HUNGARY

Hungary’s inflation rate was the EU’s highest in spring 2021. Spending promises and tax cuts ahead of elections due by spring 2022 are widening the budget deficit. Prime…

Inflation and inequality to pressure Cuban government

Location:

CUBA

Price hikes for petrol, electricity, water and gas are among several adjustment measures that will drive up living costs, compounding already high inflation. Meanwhile…

Inflation adds to Brazil’s multiple economic woes

Location:

BRAZIL

This is close to the ceiling of the target band of 2.25-5.25% set for this year. In response, the Central Bank last week raised its benchmark interest rate from a record low of…

Guatemala’s economy on the way to recovery

Location:

GUATEMALA

National GDP nevertheless contracted by just 1.5% in 2020 -- less than almost any other country in Latin America. Resilient remittances and exports, coupled with unprecedented…

Social costs of dollarisation will be high in Cuba

Location:

CUBA

The economy, however, is in dire straits. Widespread shortages of everyday supplies are reminiscent of the crisis that followed collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1990s. Economic…

Post-virus downturn could hurt Hungary’s government

Location:

HUNGARY

The pandemic has strengthened Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s position in the short term. However, the government has done little on the economic front; a conservative stimulus…