Index numbers

Romania's annual inflation rate fell to a new historic low of 0.41% in January 2015, after having stood at 0.83% in late 2013, according to the data released on Friday by the National Statistics Institute (INS).

Photo credit: (c) ANGELO BREZOIANU/ AGERPRES ARCHIVE

In January 2015 the total consumer confidence indicator increases by 4.8 percentage points as compared to October 2014, according to data of Bulgaria's National Statistical Institute (NSI).

Among urban population, the increase amounts to 4.0 percentage points, while among rural population the increase stands at 7.3 percentage points.

The manufacturing sector stagnated in Turkey in January as outputs, new orders, exports and purchases of inputs all declined despite a dramatic increase in employment, says the latest PMI data.

Turkey's manufacturing sector slowed down to start 2015, according to HSBC's Turkey Manufacturing Purchasing Manager Index (PMI), which was released by Markit on Feb. 2. 

The manufacturing sector stagnated in Turkey in January as outputs, new orders, exports and purchases of inputs all declined despite a dramatic increase in employment, says the latest PMI data.

Turkey's manufacturing sector slowed down to start 2015, according to HSBC's Turkey Manufacturing Purchasing Manager Index (PMI), which was released by Markit on Feb. 2. 

In 2014 Bulgaria has remained in the group of the free countries, but has not shown improvement for the last seven years.

The information was made available through the annual report ''Freedom In The World 2015'', published by Freedom House on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON - In the latest report on political rights and civil liberties by Washington-based NGO Freedom House, Serbia earned grade two, on the scale from one to seven, with one signifying the highest degree of freedom.

Among 195 countries, Serbia earned grade two, the same as last year, as regards political freedoms and respect of civil rights.

Bulgaria's overall buisness climate indicator has risen by 3.8 percentage points in January compared with the previous month, a new survey showed on Wednesday.

By Chryssa Liaggou

Political uncertainty and the fear of an electoral leap into the unknown resulted in a significant drop in economic sentiment in Greece last month, according to a monthly survey by the Foundation for Economic and Industrial Research (IOBE).

The climate in Greek manufacturing remained downbeat in December for a fourth month in a row, as the Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), compiled by Markit, remained below the 50-point level used to distinguish decline from growth.

Expectation surveys that measure the confidence of the real sector and consumers regarding the economic policies applied and their expectations related to the future are good way to feel the pulse of both the companies and the consumers, as well as help interpret expectations.