MGI Weekly round-up | 8 December 2017

Stories MGI has been tracking this week: 

  • Major global logistics company opens a branch in Morocco
  • Croatian government is considering raising the minimum wage
  • The EU is concerned about the lack of reforms in Bosnia and Herzegovina

And as always, we feature content from the MGI data and analysis platform, a summary of the week’s key statistical releases, and a look at the week ahead in data. This week we use the MGI platform (NATSTATS section) to examine the evolution of annual employment growth in Croatia over the past decade.
 

Global logistics company opens a branch in Morocco

Nippon Express - a Japanese global logistics company - established its second African branch in Casablanca, Morocco. The event came four months after the company’s first African branch opened in Nairobi, Kenya.
 
The North African country attracts foreign companies through the special economic zone system, and many manufacturers of Japanese car parts and related companies have already set up businesses there. Moreover, according to the Japanese company, Morocco seeks to become a node for North and West Africa through its Tangier-Med container port.
 
The company's move comes in the midst of growing interest in the African market among Japanese companies (including logistics providers). It is interesting that the Japanese PM said at the International Conference on the Development of Africa in 2016 that his country would invest a total of $30 billion in Africa within three years, the Journal of Commerce reports.


The Croatian government is considering raising the minimum wage

The Croatian PM announced the government's intentions to raise the minimum wage and take measures to help sectors facing labour shortages. The minimum wage could increase from 3,276 kuna (approx. €434) to 3,620 kuna (approx. €479), benefiting around 50,000 people. In addition to raising the minimum wage, the government also intends to provide tax incentives for the transportation and accommodation of seasonal workers traveling to the country’s tourism hotspots. Furthermore, it will also consider increasing the number of work permits for foreign workers – from 9,000 this year to 31,000 in 2018 – to address staff shortages in certain sectors of the economy, such as construction, catering, tourism and shipbuilding.
  

The EU is concerned about the lack of reforms in Bosnia and Herzegovina

In a statement issued before his visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina, EU Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Han expressed concerns regarding the lack of reforms in the country. “While the European Union is more committed than ever to support Bosnia and Herzegovina on its EU path, political leaders both in government and in opposition seem more concerned with the usual nationalistic themes and talk about “crisis” instead of focusing on the real world at hand.” Hahn mentioned that in his meetings with the Bosnian authorities he would point out that the Commission is expecting elected leaders to fulfil the written commitment to pursue EU integration they made in February 2015.
 
In December 2016, Bosnia and Herzegovina officially received the European Commission's questionnaire, based on which the EU will decide whether the country is ready to join the bloc, SeeNews reports.


Featured content from the MGI data and analysis portal

In this newsletter, we use the MGI platform (NATSTATS section) to look at annual employment growth in Croatia during 2008Q1-2017Q2. As shown in the graph, employment growth was negative between 2009Q2 and 2013Q3 (the average was -3.4%) and positive (average 1.3%) for almost all quarters after. The increase in employment reached a minimum of -6.3% in the fourth quarter of 2012 and a peak of 5% in the fourth quarter of 2014. In the last quarter for which data are available – the second quarter of 2017 –employment growth was 1.6%.

 

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The week in data

Highlights from national statistics releases tracked by MGI this week include:

 

 

Looking ahead

Next week, we expect real GDP figures for Turkey for the third quarter of 2017, as well as IPI, inflation and employment / unemployment data for several Med countries. MGI’s complete data release schedule can be viewed at our release calendar section.
 
Monday 11 December, 2017:

  • Turkey real GDP for 2017Q3 and current account for October
  • Italy retail sales for October
  • Cyprus balance of trade for October
  • Greece IPI for October
  • Tunisia balance of trade for November
  • Albania inflation rate for November
  • Israel consumer confidence for November
  • France 3-month, 6-month and 12-month BTF auction 

Tuesday 12 December, 2017:

  • France payroll employment for 2017Q3
  • Spain 3-month Letras auction
  • Albania unemployment rate and employment for 2017Q3
  • Montenegro inflation rate for November
  • Italy 12-month BOT auction
  • Turkey auto production for November

Wednesday 13 December, 2017:

  • Italy IPI for October
  • Italy 3-year, 7-year and 30-year BTP auction
  • Tunisia IPI for October
  • Israel balance of trade for November

Thursday 14 December, 2017:

  • Palestinian Territories inflation rate for November
  • France domestic and harmonized inflation for November, final estimate
  • France Services, Manufacturing and Composite PMI for December, flash estimate
  • Spain domestic and harmonized inflation for November, final estimate
  • Spain 3-year, 5-year Bonos auction and 10-year Obligacion auction
  • Italy domestic and harmonized inflation for November, final estimate
  • Israel current account for 2017Q3 and money supply (M1) for November
  • Turkey central bank interest rate decision
  • Albania IPI for 2017Q3
  • Greece unemployment rate for 2017Q3
  • Morocco IPI for 2017Q3

Friday 15 December, 2017:

  • Turkey unemployment rate and employment for September
  • Croatia inflation rate for November
  • Israel inflation rate and Manufacturing PMI for November
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