SLOVENIA

Slovenian businesses confident they are prepared for possible crisis

Aleksander Zalaznik, the head of the Manager Association, asserted ahead of the association's congress on Thursday that Slovenian companies are well prepared for a potential new crisis. Their capital structure has improved, they are focused on their core business, while they need to increase productivity and produce more finished products, he said. (STA)

Pensions to rise by 1.5% in December as a result of high GDP growth

The government confirmed at a correspondence session on Thursday a 1.5% increase in pensions for December, which is in line with legislative provisions that envisage such a raise for the case of GDP growth in 2018 exceeding 4%. (STA)

Govt extends control over fuel prices until end of year

The government extended on Thursday a decree on administered fuel prices by another three months, until the end of the year, which shows that the Economy Ministry has once more failed to introduce full liberalisation of the fuel market. (STA)

INTERNATIONAL MARKETS

Global stocks mixed as traders eye trade and political uncertainty

European markets were set to open moderately higher on Friday despite falls overnight in Asia and on Wall Street as traders gauged trade headlines and a bout of political uncertainty in Washington as the White House faced accusations of a cover-up. Global stocks are on track to record a second week of falls after a strong start to the month which was fuelled by optimism over trade talks between the US and China — the MSCI All-World Index is down 0.9 per cent so far this week. High-level talks between the world’s two largest economies are set to resume on October 10-11 in Washington, CNBC reported overnight. (FT)

Micron profit outlook pressured by trade, economy

Micron Technology issued a softer profit forecast than expected amid ongoing uncertainty over trade and the economy, overshadowing signs demand has improved. Micron, a maker of memory chips and data storage products, said Thursday it expects to earn between 39 cents and 53 cents a share on an adjusted basis in its fiscal first quarter that ends in November. The midpoint of Micron’s guidance, at 46 cents a share, missed analysts’ average estimate of 48 cents. The company’s revenue forecast of $5bn, plus or minus $200m, was better than a consensus view of $4.76bn. Shares in Micron slid 5.7 per cent in after-hours trading, threatening to cut into the stock’s 53 per cent rise this year. (FT)

Banks snap up $60bn in two-week loans from New York Fed

Banks lapped up the $60bn of two-week loans on offer from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on Thursday, as appetite to secure funding ahead of a potentially volatile end to the third quarter remained unsated.  The New York Fed increased the size of Thursday’s cash injection, after Tuesday’s $30bn operation saw more than $60bn of demand, while an overnight loan offering on Wednesday drew almost $90bn of bids for the $75bn on offer.  Banks submitted requests for $72.75bn of two-week loans on Thursday. While that was again more than the Fed was offering, borrowers paid an average interest rate of just below 1.9 per cent for the cash, a drop from the 1.96 per cent paid on Tuesday. That suggests a less dire need for cash over the end of the quarter, a time when short-term lending markets can dry up as banks focus on the snapshot of their finances that will be shown in quarterly earnings reports. (FT)

China's top diplomat says Beijing willing to buy more U.S. products

China’s top diplomat said on Thursday that China was willing to buy more U.S. products, and said trade talks would yield results if both sides “take more enthusiastic measures” to show goodwill and reduce “pessimistic language” in their trade dispute. (Reuters)

Rate cut 'plausible' if Brexit uncertainty persists - BoE's Saunders

The Bank of England may well need to cut interest rates in the likely scenario that high levels of uncertainty over Brexit persist, BoE policymaker Michael Saunders said on Friday in the first clear signal that it is considering a cut. Last week, without directly raising the prospect of cutting interest rates, the Bank of England said Brexit uncertainty and slower world growth were increasingly causing Britain’s economy to perform below potential.
But Saunders told local businesses in Barnsley, northern England that if Britain avoided a no-deal Brexit, “I think it is quite plausible that the next move in Bank Rate would be down rather than up.”
After the comments, sterling GBP= fell by around half a cent against the dollar to a three-week low, and government bond yields GB10YT=RR broadly dropped around 4 basis points as investors priced in the increased chance of lower borrowing costs. (Reuters)

SERBIA

Serbia number 1 globally for the third year in a row by the number of jobs created through FDI

The Republic of Serbia is number 1 globally for the third year in a row, as the country that creates most FDI jobs per million inhabitants, according to IBM Global Location Trends 2019, which is considered the most important measure of FDI performance. Furthermore, based on job creation Serbia ranks and 5th in Europe and 12th globally in the overall ranking, the Development Agency of Serbia announced on its website. According to IBM Global Location Trends 2019 report, Serbia also stands on the first position in the world as a country with the highest percentage of the export-oriented investment projects (91.2%), along with the rank number one for the number of newly created jobs through FDI projects initiated in 2018 in the electrical equipment sector. (Ekapija)

NBS: One year ahead annual inflation expected at 2-2.3%

According to the results of the August survey, one-year and two-year ahead inflation expectations of the financial and corporate sectors continued to move within the target tolerance band (3±1.5%). One-year ahead inflation expectations of the financial and corporate sectors were lowered to 2.3% and 2.0%, respectively, from July. Two-year ahead inflation expectations also went down in August. Medium-term inflation expectations of the financial sector measure 2.5%, while corporate expectations are somewhat lower – 2.4%. (NBS)

Serbia to start new investment cycle – Most money to be put into infrastructural projects

Serbia is initiating a new investment cycle, as announced by Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure Zorana Mihajlovic after a meeting with a delegation of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), led by Charlotte Ruhe, Managing Director for Central and Southeastern Europe, and Zsuzsanna Hargitai, the Regional Director for the Western Balkans. The minister pointed out that she was proud that 80% of the new cycle consisted of infrastructural projects and added that she was happy to confirm that the cooperation with the ERBD was very successful. (Ekapija)

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