Search result for " greece "
Greece Economy – Update January 2016
Greece continues to make headlines as it struggles to recover from an economy in crisis. Austerity measures are the name of the game, following a bailout plan agreed with the IMF in August 2015. While on the surface, Greece does not look like a place to invest, there are...
Despite large debt, Italy is a safer financial bet than Greece
Italy has Europe’s second-highest debt burden as a proportion of GDP, with a national debt of 132% of its 2014 compared to an equivalent figure of 177% in Greece. Since Italy’s economy is significantly larger than that of Greece (being the third largest in the Eurozone behind Germany and...
Greece Financial Crisis – IMF: we made some mistakes in Greece…
Greece Financial Crisis In a 50-page critique released last week, the IMF has admitted that it was a bit too optimistic with its predictions about the effects of austerity on Greece and its people. As part of its bailout package in 2010, the “troika” – the IMF, European Commission,...
Austerity Measures to roll on in Greece and other news
The Eurozone debt crisis continues to dominate the news. Greece, after much deliberation, finally approved a controversial package of austerity measures fulfilling their requirements of their bailout deal. However European officials and the markets remain far from convinced. European officials are calling for the Greek government to do more...
Hong Kong blacklisted by the EU for its tax practices
Hong Kong among world’s 30 blacklisted tax havens Although the OECD has successfully cleared its list of uncooperative tax havens, it recognises that there remains work to be done on harmful tax practices. While that work has largely manifested in automatic exchange of information (AEOI) agreements and consulting on...
Do proposed bank sales in Portugal reflect an improved economy?
BPI branch at Praça Duque de Saldanha, Lisbon Portugal was one of the European nations to fare most poorly in the last decade’s financial crisis, needing to be bailed out with European funds like its southern European counterparts: Italy, Greece and Spain. This weakness in the Portuguese economy, particularly...
Hungary is attractive for SMEs but large groups should be wary
Great Market Hall, Budapest Beneath the level of 500m Forint (about US$1.75m), Hungarian companies pay only 10% tax on their profits. Even for companies exceeding that threshold, the top rate of corporate tax of 19% remains competitive among European tax regimes. This makes the country attractive for small and...
6 reasons why Spain’s economy is still hurting
Spain was one of the worst-affected countries in the 2008 recession, hit hard by huge losses on real estate investments and a sharp rise in unemployment. Seven years on, the Spanish economy has yet to recover. Here are some of the factors that have weakened the country’s recovery: As...
Is it Possible to Avoid Corruption?
Transparency International – the global coalition against corruption, envisions a world in which government, business, civil society and the daily lives of people across the globe are free of corruption. The Berlin-based organization conducts an annual ‘Corruption Perception Index’, measuring the perceived levels of public sector corruption and humanity’s...
America slips as Europe hold top rank in competitiveness survey
The US, while maintaining its status as the world’s largest economy and as a worldwide innovation powerhouse, slipped further in the Global Competitiveness Report for the fourth consecutive year. The 2012 survey, published by the World Economic Forum, ranks the competitiveness of 144 countries based on over 100 key...