Opinion
ALACO DISPATCHES: I say Moldovan, you say Romanian…
How a dispute over language reflects cultural and political divisions in a country squeezed between Russia and Western Europe.
ING: Russian budget spending plays catch up in January
Russian state spending significantly accelerated in January, fulfilling the unusually high proportion of annual spending plan for that month as the government plays catch up with the national projects
TRACE: A closer look at corruption risk in the western Balkans
Corruption is a serious problem throughout emerging Europe, but there are questions about whether the focus on perceptions of corruption is the best way to evaluate the effectiveness of a country’s anti-corruption efforts.
ING: Poland's growth slows sharply and the outlook is poor
Annual GDP data implies that growth slowed in the final quarter of last year to a modest 3% year-on-year vs 3.9% in the third quarter. ING’s 3% y/y growth forecast for 2020 is at risk for a downgrade.
ASH: Putin moves from "Fortress Russia" to "Go for Growth"
Things are happening in Russia – with change signalled both in the political and the economic policy settings. Russia's fiscal fortress is strong enough to make it impervious to sanctions, so time to focus on growth
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AFC Capital: Uzbekistan’s antiquated banking sector must wake up to invest-to-compete principle
Arrival of Georgia’s TBC Bank on local market may incentivise local banks to digitise, provide good customer service and eliminate bottlenecks.
EAST CAPITAL: Romania — can 2019’s best frontier market continue to perform in 2020?
It is now over a year since the Romanian government, in December 2018, unexpectedly introduced draconian taxes across different sectors, which sent equities into a spin. Yet it finished the year with a 39% return on equities.
ING: Russian industry hoping for a better 2020
Even though overall industrial production growth softened in 2019, some investment-driven sectors outperformed, including those focused on agriculture, oil downstream, chemicals, construction and transportation.