Day: March 30, 2022

Turkiye’s economic confidence index decreased for the second consecutive month in March, the country’s statistical authority announced on Wednesday.

The figure fell 2.5% month-on-month to 95.7 in March, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) said in a statement.

All sub-indices except for consumer confidence deteriorated in the month, with the services confidence posting the largest decline.

The services confidence index dove 6.2% from the previous month to 113 in March, while retail trade slid 3.1% to 116 in the same period.

The sub-indices for the real sector and construction decreased by 1.6% and 2% to 108.2 and 81, respectively.

On the other hand, the consumer confidence index increased by 1.9%, reaching 72.5 in March.

A rating above 100 indicates an optimistic outlook for the overall economic situation, while a value below 100 suggests a negative assessment.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Germany on Wednesday activated its “early warning” gas supply plan amid growing tensions with Russia.

Economy Minister Robert Habeck told a news conference in Berlin that the country should prepare for potential gas supply disruption in the coming days as Russia is saying it will only accept payments in rubles for gas deliveries.

“In order to make preparations for this situation, I’ve activated this morning the early warning level according to the gas regulation,” he said, referring to the first of three stages in Germany’s emergency preparedness plan.

He said a crisis team has been set up to closely monitor the situation on a daily basis and report to the authorities.

Habeck reiterated that German energy companies will not pay for Russian gas in rubles as their contracts stipulate payment in dollars and euros.

In response to Western sanctions on Russia, Moscow had announced earlier that it will only accept payments in rubles from “unfriendly countries” for its gas deliveries. Russian authorities are expected to announce new rules for gas payments on Thursday.

Russia’s war on Ukraine, which began on Feb. 24, has drawn international outrage, with the EU, US, and UK, among others, implementing tough financial sanctions on Moscow.

At least 1,179 civilians have been killed and 1,860 have been injured in Ukraine, with the true figure likely to be much higher, according to the UN.

More than 4 million Ukrainians have also fled to other countries, with millions more internally displaced, according to the UN refugee agency.

Source: Anadolu Agency

E-commerce sector players from Turkiye and abroad gathered in the Turkish Mediterranean resort city Antalya on Tuesday for a three-day meeting.

Companies and shareholders convened for the World E-commerce Forum’s (Worldef) meeting, with several topics, including entrepreneurship ecosystem, global marketplaces, and new trends in retail trade and digital marketing, to be discussed.

More than 50 Turkish and foreign sector professionals will give speeches at sessions during the event, which is hosting over 1,200 participants from 35 countries.

Addressing the opening ceremony, Omer Nart, the Worldef head, said the share of the marketplaces hosted by the event in the global market is around $150 billion.

“With the pandemic, new opportunities emerged for the e-commerce sector, this event was organized to benefit from these opportunities,” he added.

Nart also said the global meeting of the Worldef in the UK on Oct. 25-26 will be the first foreign event of the forum.

“The whole European e-commerce ecosystem will gather at this event,” he added.

Daniel Vines, the vice president of FedEx Europe, said e-commerce is growing at a tremendous pace and creating fantastic opportunities for all people.

“To compete in this fast-evolving market, decision-makers are striving to deliver a seamless customer experience,” he underlined.

100,000 participants target for Antalya meeting

In a press release after the opening ceremony, Nart said the London meeting will meet Turkish business people with their counterparts in the UK, which has a £700 billion ($916.8 billion) e-commerce market.

The meeting will draw some 300 Turkish firms from several e-commerce sectors, such as retailers, service providers, logistic companies, tech firms, and marketplaces, he added.

On the meeting in Antalya, he said it is hosting around 1,500 participants this year, but the figure will reach 100,000 in five years.

In a few years, Turkiye’s e-export volume, which is currently at $2 billion yearly, may increase by $3-4 billion thanks to the relations with the UK, according to Nart.

Orxan Isayev, the CEO of ShopiVerse, a store provider for e-commerce firms, said the UK is a very attractive market for the Turkish e-commerce sector.

Turkish manufacturers, he said, can make low-cost but quality products and Turkish firms can integrate with British and European companies in the event in London.

Source: Anadolu Agency

The consumer price index in Spain climbed 9.8% in March compared to the same month last year, according to preliminary data released by Spain’s National Institute of Statistics on Wednesday.

That is the highest year-on-year spike since 1985.

“73% of the inflation can be explained by the runaway prices of energy and food staples, which have been exacerbated by the war in Ukraine,” Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez told the parliament on Wednesday.

Even before the war in Ukraine, Spain has been grappling with soaring prices. In February, inflation reached 7.6%.

On Tuesday, Bank of Spain Governor Pablo Hernandez de Cos called March’s inflation reading “particularly negative” and “a very significant uptick.”

He warned that markets are anticipating that inflation will persist and said the impact of the war on Ukraine will mean more than just rising food and energy prices.

“There’s been a brutal increase in uncertainty, and uncertainty isn’t good for making investment decisions or consumption,” he said.

Spain’s core inflation, which does not consider price changes in volatile areas like food and energy, also hit 3.4% in March – the fastest annual spike since 2008.

Source: Anadolu Agency

The world’s first Economy and Climate Change Summit kicked off on Wednesday in Turkish capital Ankara where climate change and green transformation issues will top the agenda.

The 2-day summit, of which Anadolu Agency is the global communications partner, will be held at the Congresium Ankara ATO International Convention & Exhibition Center.

Clean energy financing, transformation of the industries in line with the global green policies and global strategies will be among the topics to be discussed during the event.

The event will also elaborate the carbon emission reduction policies, its economic effects on the climate change efforts and policies of the governments.

Former heads of state, ambassadors, public institutions and organizations, local governments, universities, the business and international organizations will be among the attendees.

The event will also feature exhibition stands, fashion shows and concerts.

Source: Anadolu Agency

The price per megawatt-hour of natural gas in Europe, which started in early trading on the Netherlands-based virtual natural gas trading point (TTF) at €110 ($122) increased by around 13% to €123.

The gas contract price for April opened at around €110 but sharply increased following statements from German Economy Minister Robert Habeck.

Announcing an emergency plan, Habeck said his country should prepare for potential gas supply disruption in the coming days after Russia said it would only accept payments in rubles for gas deliveries.

“In order to make preparations for this situation, I’ve activated this morning the early warning level according to the gas regulation,” he said, referring to the first of three stages in Germany’s emergency preparedness plan.

Habeck reiterated that German energy companies would not pay for Russian gas in rubles as their contracts stipulate payment in dollars and euros.

In response to Western sanctions on Russia, Moscow had announced earlier this month that it would only accept payments in rubles from “unfriendly countries” for its gas deliveries. Russian authorities are expected to announce new rules for gas payments on Thursday.

One euro is currently equal to 16.35 Turkish liras.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Most major Asian stock markets closed Wednesday with gains.

The Asia Dow, which includes blue-chip companies in the region, was up 14.8 points, or 0.40%, to around 3,666 at 1007GMT.

The Hang Seng, the benchmark for blue-chip stocks trading on the Hong Kong stock exchange, surged by 304.4 points, or 1.39%, to 20,232.

China’s Shanghai stock exchange climbed by 62.66 points, or 1.96%, to 3,266.

The Indian Sensex benchmark gained 692.7 points, or 1.2%, to close at 58,636, while the Singapore index was up 8.7 points, or 0.25%, to 3,442.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 stock exchange slipped on Wednesday, dropping 225.2 points, or 0.80%, to 28,027 at the day’s close.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Payments and gas shipments are processes that stretches over time and Russia won’t immediately enforce its demand to receive payments in rubles for natural gas, said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Wednesday.

Peskov said that there were some positive results from the Russia-Ukraine talks held in Istanbul on Tuesday.

“It is positive that Ukraine has at least formulated its proposals concretely and started to put them on paper. So far we have not been able to do this. This is a positive element,” he said.

Noting that he could not make a very promising comment about the outcome of the negotiations, Peskov said, “So far, we cannot say that there is a very promising, turning point, there is still a lot of work to be done.”

“Payments and gas shipments are a time-consuming process. The deadline set by Putin for the determination of the ruble payment system expires on March 31. This does not mean that shipments will be made tomorrow and payment will be made in rubles tomorrow evening,” he responded to a question about the process of Russia’s transition to paying in rubles for natural gas exports to Western countries.

Pointing out that Russia may switch to the ruble payment system for different products in exports, Peskov said, “Expanding the use of national currencies is an area that our government is also working on. It’s in our interests and our partners’ interests.”

Peskov said that the US dollar has lost prestige as a reserve currency.

Source: Anadolu Agency