Bi-Weekly Report 23 October - 5 November 2018
Turkey
Lending activity (FX-adjusted) slowed significantly in 9M:18, on the back of elevated uncertainty and the fading impact of the Credit Guarantee Fund scheme
Customer deposits (FX-adjusted) decelerated markedly in 9M:18, hampered by weakening confidence in the domestic economy
Turkey slipped 3 places to 61st in the 2018 Global Competitiveness Index of the World Economic Forum
Romania
Political uncertainty heightened following the Government's call for the removal of the General Prosecutor
Romania's competitiveness improves slightly in 2018
Bulgaria
Credit expansion strengthened modestly in 9M:18, providing support to the economic recovery
Customer deposits maintained momentum in 9M:18, in line with solid economic growth
Bulgaria's external competitiveness improves slowly in 2018
Serbia
The underlying profitability of the banking system improved on an annual basis in Q1:18, keeping ROAE in double digits for a 5th successive quarter
FYROM
The fiscal deficit narrowed temporarily by 0.7 pps y-o-y to 1.1% of GDP in 9M:18, mainly due to under-executed capital spending
FYROM behind the South Eastern Europe-4 (Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia and Albania) according to the 2018 WEF Competitiveness Report
Albania
Albania's competitiveness improves in 2018
Customer deposits (FX-adjusted) strengthened in 9M:18, underpinned by the rebound in economic activity
Credit growth, adjusted for large write-offs and FX variations, is estimated to have posted strong growth of c. 2.4% at end-Q3:18
Cyprus
Net earnings of the banking sector returned to positive territory for the first time in 2 years in H1:18, due to lower provisioning
Cyprus ranked 44th in this year's World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Index
Egypt
GDP growth reached a 10-year high of 5.3% in FY:17/18, with a significant rebalancing from consumption towards investment and exports
Egypt ranked 94th in the World Economic Forum's 2018 Global Competitiveness Index
Appendix: Financial Markets