SLOVENIA

PM, FinMin say 2020, 2021 budgets with surplus despite slowdown

Prime Minister Marjan Šarec and Finance Minister Andrej Bertoncelj presented the 2020 and 2021 draft budgets in parliament on Monday, noting that, despite the expected slowdown of economic growth, the budgets would see a surplus, and that more money would be available than earlier. Healthcare, science, economy and security are priorities. (STA)

BAMC inquiry hears first witnesses

The parliamentary inquiry established to look into the operations the Bank Asset Management Company (BAMC) kicked off its work on Monday, quizzing several key persons in charge of critical developments in 2013, when the country's bad bank was incorporated. (STA)

INTERNATIONAL MARKETS

U.S.-China strains over Hong Kong and minority rights hinder chance of trade deal

Prospects for progress in U.S.-China trade talks dimmed on Monday after Washington blacklisted Chinese companies over Beijing’s treatment of predominantly Muslim ethnic minorities, and President Donald Trump said a quick trade deal was unlikely. The move by the U.S. Commerce Department could deepen divisions between Washington and Beijing at a critical juncture in their 15-month trade war that has roiled financial markets and triggered a slowdown in the global economy. Another flashpoint has been a widening controversy over a tweet from a U.S. National Basketball Association official. His backing of Hong Kong democracy protests was rebuked by the NBA, sparking a backlash. Trump and his top economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, spoke in generally upbeat terms about this week’s discussions with China, the first such high-level talks in more than two months, but Trump insisted he would not be satisfied with a partial deal. (Reuters)

China joins Asian shares in cautious advance ahead of trade talks

Asian shares inched up on Tuesday, with Chinese shares making decent gains after a week-long holiday, though investors remained cautious over U.S.-China trade talks after President Donald Trump said a quick deal was unlikely. European shares were expected to follow, with major European stock futures including pan-European Euro Stoxx 50 futures STXEc1 trading up 0.15%-0.2%. Japan's Nikkei climbed 1.0% while MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS rose 0.55%, led by gains in tech shares in South Korea and Taiwan. South Korea’s Samsung Electronics rose 1.2% after its profit guidance. The semiconductor firm said its third-quarter operating profit likely fell 56% on a downturn in global memory chip prices, but that was better than what analysts had anticipated. (Reuters)

Positive German data, Airbus shares drive tentative gains in European stocks

European shares ticked higher in early trading on Tuesday, helped by gains in Airbus shares and data showing an unexpected rise in industrial output in Germany, while caution prevailed ahead of U.S.-China trade talks. The pan-European STOXX 600 index was up 0.1% by 0715 GMT, with most regional bourses trading higher. The August data for Germany provided a shimmer of hope that an expected contraction in Europe’s biggest economy in the third quarter would not be steep. Airbus rose 2.2%, after the planemaker reported higher orders for the first nine months of the year, putting it well ahead of U.S. rival Boeing. Also helping sentiment were shares of Nordic telecom companies Nokia Oyj and Ericsson, which rose about 1%, after a report that the U.S. government has suggested issuing credit to help the two companies compete with China’s Huawei. In a weak spot, shares of London Stock Exchange Group dropped 6.4% after Hong Kong’s bourse dropped its unsolicited $39 billion bid for the company. (Reuters)

Sterling falls to three-week low vs euro as 'no-deal' Brexit worries flare

Sterling fell to a three-week low against the euro on Tuesday as concerns lingered that sizeable differences between Britain and the European Union remained with less than a month left to strike a Brexit withdrawal deal before the Oct. 31 deadline. The British government is preparing for Brexit negotiations to end this week, according to a report in the Spectator magazine. But the magazine reported that Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar did not want to talk and said French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel were not likely to push the EU to discuss Britain’s offer unless Ireland is ready to negotiate. The stalemate was keeping sterling on the back foot at $1.2276 GB, having pushed it to a six-day low of $1.2260 earlier. Against the euro, the pound was down 0.3% at 89.55 pence, the lowest since Sept. 13. (Reuters)

SERBIA

Serbian parliaments adopts amended 2019 budget

The Serbian Parliament adopted an amended state budget for 2019 which includes 50 billion Dinars (1 Euro – 118 Dinars) of surplus funds to raise public sector salaries, make a single payment to pensioners, assist people with loans in Swiss Francs and fund capital investments. Public sector salaries will be raised between eight and 15 percent as of November 1 and pensioners will get a once-off payment of 5,000 Dinars early in December. The Construction, Traffic and Infrastructure Ministry will get money to pay for several highway sections and the Ministries of Science and Education and Labor and Social Affairs will get more funding for their respective activities. A fiscal surplus of 37.2 billion Dinars was recorded in the January-August period with a primary fiscal surplus of 122.3 billion Dinars. A fiscal deficit of 13.7 billion Dinars was planned for that period, the Finance Ministry said. (N1)

Steady progress in improvement of Serbian business climate

Serbia is continuing a steady but moderate progress in improvement of the business climate and a positive trend in conducting reforms is evident, Foreign Investors Council (FIC) President Yana Mikhailova has told representatives of EU institutions during two-day discussions in Brussels. In the discussions with EU institutions, the FIC "underlined the instrumental importance of reforms in the following fields: tax, labour, trade and inspections, food safety, real-estate, digitalisation & e-commerce, the pharma industry, and the general legal framework (specifically bankruptcy and foreign exchange regulations)." (Tanjug)

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