Показник інфляції в березні свідчить про відсутність впливу росту мінімальної зарплати на загальний ріст цін. Про це повідомляє прес-служба Міністерства соціальної політики. За цим повідомленням, ціни на споживчому ринку в березні 2017 року порівняно з попереднім місяцем зросли на 1,8%, з початку року – на 3,9%. «Березневий показник більший за попередні місяці, проте очікуваний і в межах прогнозних розрахунків. За даними Державної служби статистики України, ключові причини загального росту цін – в сезонному рості цін нахліб, мясну і молочну групи продовольства, а також рості тарифів (на електроенергію) і збільшенні акцизів на алкоголь і тютюн», – ідеться у повідомленні. Разом з тим, знизились ціни на овочі (на 19,2%), суттєво (на 7,3%) подешевшали яйця. «Звертаємо увагу, що ініціатива Кабінету міністрів України з підвищення мінімальної заробітньої плати, яка вступила в силу з 1 січня 2017 року, не має істотного впливу на ріст цін», – вказує прес-служба Мінсоцполітики. «Гроші, які сьогодні виплескуються у готівковий обіг у вигляді виплати зарплати,вже й так потрапляли в економіку, але через виплати в «конверті». Тобто додатковий тиск готівки на ціни безпосередньо через підвищення мінімальної зарплати не створюється», – стверджують фахівці. З 2017 року в Україні вдвічі зросла мінімальна зарплата. Тепер де-юре роботодавці не можуть платити своїм працівникам менш ніж 3200 гривень. …
India Extends $4.5 Billion Line of Credit to Bangladesh
India and Bangladesh signed a slew of agreements on Saturday, including a $4.5 billion concessionary line of credit from India for development projects in Bangladesh, as the South Asian neighbors try to deepen their ties. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart, Sheikh Hasina, held wide-ranging talks in New Delhi, exchanging views on defense, regional security and cooperation in combating international terrorism. Officials from the two sides signed 22 agreements, including a framework deal for defense cooperation over the next five years and an additional $500 million for Bangladesh to buy military equipment from India. The two sides also signed an agreement on civil nuclear cooperation under which India will help Bangladesh develop its civilian nuclear program. Modi said Hasina’s visit marked the “golden era” of India-Bangladesh relations and described India as “a long-standing and trusted development partner of Bangladesh.” India and Bangladesh share a nearly 4,100-kilometer (2,545-mile) border. The two countries have had a close relationship since 1971, when Bangladesh, aided by India, gained independence from Pakistan following a bloody nine-month war. …
India Gives $4.5B Credit Line to Bangladesh, Signs Defense Pact
India and Bangladesh signaled deepening ties Saturday as New Delhi committed a $4.5 billion line of credit to Dhaka for development projects, and the two countries signed their first-ever pact on defense cooperation. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an additional $500 million in credit for Bangladesh to buy military equipment from India during the visit to New Delhi by Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Calling India a “long standing and trusted development partner,” Modi said that the new credit lines “bring our resources allocation to Bangladesh to more than $8 billion over the past six years.” Both leaders reaffirmed their close ties during the Bangladeshi prime minister’s first visit to India in seven years, with Modi speaking of a “golden era” in their friendship and Hasina saying their friendly ties would benefit South Asia. The two countries signed 22 agreements, including one on civil nuclear cooperation that aims to help Bangladesh develop its civilian nuclear program. Many in New Delhi see the deal for defense cooperation over the next five years as the key breakthrough that will help reduce Bangladesh’s reliance on China for its military needs. Worried by the growing Chinese influence in its neighborhood, New Delhi has made a concerted push in recent years to grow strategic ties with neighboring countries. Bangladesh’s purchase of two submarines from China last year deepened those concerns in India. Calling the defense pact a feather in India’s cap, Sukh Deo Muni, a South Asia expert at New Delhi’s Institute of Defense Studies …
US Rail Industry Focused on US-China Trade Relationship
March was a disappointing month for job seekers, with the U.S. Labor Department reporting that the private sector added only 98,000 jobs last month. But one industry is looking beyond the job numbers and toward distant shores as President Donald Trump meets for the first time with Chinese President Xi Jinping to talk about trade. Mil Arcega reports. …
Lack of Iodized Salt Causes ‘Serious Public Health Problem’ in Cambodia
When Arnaud Laillou, a nutrition specialist with UNICEF, led a salt iodization study in 2014, he wanted to be sure that salt producers were not adding too much iodine. Just four years earlier, UNICEF had stopped providing iodine to salt producers at the end of a decade-long, largely successful government-run iodization program. Laillou was stunned to find that 90 percent of coarse salt and 40-50 percent of fine salt was now not iodized. And all of it was labeled as iodized. “It was a real shock for us,” says Laillou of the findings of the paper that was published last year in the online journal Nutrients. Serious public health problem That paper said iodine deficiency in Cambodia had become “a serious public health problem” just years after the issue had largely been dealt with, and warned that poorer families and rural families were worst affected. That was at odds with a study carried out three years earlier that showed salt producers were adding iodine, and that authorities were enforcing a 2003 subdecree that mandated iodization. Iodine is essential to brain development and hormonal functions. If a pregnant woman is iodine-deficient, for example, her baby’s brain will not develop properly. The mineral is vital for brain development in children, too, and for proper hormone functioning in all ages. Iodine is so important that the World Health Organization has described iodine-deficiency as “the [world’s] single greatest preventable cause of mental retardation.” Iodizing salt is widely regarded as one of the cheapest and …
3-D-Printed Microscope Turns Smartphone into DNA Sequencer
With the right attachment, a smartphone can be used as a diagnostic tool for infectious diseases like tuberculosis. Faith Lapidus reports. …
Scientists Get Closer to Building Artificial Life
Despite ethical and safety concerns, researchers are getting closer to building life from scratch. In fact, scientists are hoping to synthesize a human genome in the next 10 years. Investors are putting huge amounts of money into research that may deliver novel drugs, materials and chemicals. Some of the projects were highlighted at a synthetic biology conference in London April 4-6. VOA’s Deborah Block has a report. …
Greece’s Dark Age: How Austerity Turned Off the Lights
Kostas Argyros’s unpaid electricity bills are piling up, among a mountain of debt owed to Greece’s biggest power utility. His family owe 850 euros to the Public Power Corporation (PPC), a tiny fraction of the state-controlled firm’s 2.6 billion euros ($2.8 billion) in unpaid bills. Argyros picks up only occasional work as an odd-job man. “When you only work once a week, what will you pay first?” said the 35-year-old, who lives in a tiny apartment in an Athens suburb with his unemployed wife and four small children. The Argyros family are emblematic of deepening poverty in Greece following seven years of austerity demanded by the country’s international creditors. They burn wood to heat their home in winter, food is cooked on a small gas stove, and hot water is scarce. The only evening light is the blue glare of a TV screen, for fear of racking up more debt. Five-watt lightbulbs provide a dim glow and Argyros worries about the effect on their eyesight. More than 40 percent of Greeks are behind on their utility bills, higher than anywhere else in Europe. People in poor neighborhoods are also increasingly turning to energy fraud, meaning that the problem for PPC is much higher than the mountain of unpaid bills suggests. Power theft is costing PPC around 500-600 million euros a year in lost income, an industry official said, requesting anonymity because he was not authorised to divulge the numbers. PPC declined to comment on the figure. Public disclosures by the …
Chile’s Wine Industry Sees Little Impact From Fires, Heatwave
A torrid summer and devastating fires across central Chile’s wine belt have forced an earlier harvest this year, but there are no signs that volume or flavor will be affected, local industry experts said on Thursday. High temperatures can lead to excessive sugar and alcohol in the grapes and the harvest needed to take place as soon as the right level was reached, they said. Climate change is contributing to record droughts, heat and wildfires in Chile, the world’s No. 4 exporter of wine by volume and the biggest among New World producers, threatening crops and spurring growers to move south to cooler climes. In December, temperatures in central Chile hit their highest level in a century. The hot, dry conditions sparked the biggest wildfires in the country’s modern history, burning homes and forests and blanketing the entire region in thick smoke. Most vines had escaped the flames and the bigger worry was the effect of the smoke on the flavor of the grapes, said Angelica Valenzuela, commercial director of industry body Wines of Chile. “The number of vines burnt was low. But there could be an effect from the smoke which we will see when the harvest is done,” she said in an interview at the Undurraga vineyard near Talagante, 22 miles (35 kilometers) southwest of the capital of Santiago. “For now, the first results are not showing signs of any problems.” Close to where some of the worst fires raged, Undurraga produces around 2 million cases a year, …
Balkans Skeptical of EU Plan for a Market
Serbian President-elect Aleksandar Vucic likes to use the past to explain the future. In 1947, as Josip Broz Tito was consolidating Yugoslavia, he built a railway through Bosnia that linked Serbs, Croats and Muslim Bosniaks, friend and foe after World War II. “Tito wasn’t stupid,” Vucic told Reuters. “People had to work together, build together, then travel together, live together. That’s what we need — connecting.” Together again Yugoslavia broke up in war 26 years ago, spawning seven states. Now, the European Union has taken up a project put forward by Vucic that would see five of them — plus Albania — joined once more, this time in a common market. It would abolish all remaining tariff barriers, lift obstacles to the free movement of people, commodities and services and introduce standard regulations across the region. The EU wants an outline agreed to in July, seizing on the idea as a way to re-engage with Balkan states unnerved by the bloc’s evaporating enthusiasm for further enlargement and exposed to the growing influence of Russia. But it has received a mixed reception. Some apprehensions Kosovo, for one, fears being roped back into a Serbian-dominated union of the kind it fought to leave; others worry it will only slow their accession to the EU, or worse still replace it. The EU has delegated development of the plan to the Regional Cooperation Council. Its head, Goran Svilanovic, told Reuters Balkan leaders were “increasingly realistic” about the reduced appetite in Brussels for EU enlargement. …
Sierra Leone Grapples with Mental Health Impact of Ebola
With the recent Ebola crisis, officials in Sierra Leone have seen a rise in mental health concerns. Mustapha Kallon’s problems are typical. He survived Ebola but lost many family members during the epidemic. “Whenever I think of my parents, I feel depressed,” he said. Kallon said he turned to alcohol to cope with his grief. He was still receiving care in the Ebola treatment unit when his parents died from the virus. He didn’t get to say goodbye and doesn’t even know where they are buried. Sometimes Kallon goes with fellow Ebola survivors when they visit the graves of their loved ones. ‘I always cry’ “I feel like dying … I always cry when I am there,” he said. “I always feel pity, because I can’t find their graves.” The corpses of people infected with Ebola can be very contagious. During the epidemic, burying the dead quickly and safely was so important to stopping transmission that proper records were not kept and some graves were left unmarked. From 2014 to 2016, the regional Ebola epidemic killed just over 11,000 people. Nearly all of them were in West Africa, with about 4,000 in Sierra Leone. Those who survived the virus have faced stigma. Kallon was shunned by his community. It was only through support from the Sierra Leone Association of Ebola Survivors that he started to heal. “When I am among my colleague survivors, we explain to ourselves what we go through, and that helps us to forget about the past …
Ethiopia Declares Another Diarrhea Outbreak
Ethiopia has declared an outbreak of acute watery diarrhea, also known as AWD, in the country’s Somali region, where people are already struggling to cope with a persistent drought. Dr. Akpaka Kalu, the World Health Organization representative to Ethiopia, told VOA on Friday that 16,000 cases of AWD had been recorded in the region since January. The total number of deaths is uncertain. Regional President Abdi Mohammed Omar said Friday that 19 children had died of AWD in Dollo zone, an area near the southern border with Somalia. This week, residents of a remote village, Qorile, told VOA’s Somali service that dozens had died and more than 700 had received treatment for the illness. Omar said some of the treatment centers set up to address the outbreak were making headway. “We have managed to control the worst effects of the disease by establishing temporary emergency medical posts in remote villages,” he said. Federal authorities have deployed 500 nurses and 68 doctors to fight the disease, in addition to 700 trained health officers, he told VOA’s Amharic service. Additionally, the WHO has deployed teams on the ground and set up treatment camps to address the outbreak. Kalu said a U.N. team regional coordinator, WHO representatives and a few others would go to the Somali region, also known as the Ogaden, on Saturday to assess the situation. “From WHO, for example, we have nearing 40 people on the ground right now. A team went there today in addition to the team that’s …
Керівник «Нафтогазу» заявив про оптимістичну інформацію з арбітражу з «Газпромом»
Голова правління «Нафтогазу України» Андрій Коболєв заявив, що остання інформація зі Стокгольмського арбітражу, який розглядає суперечки між «Нафтогазом» і російським газовим монополістом «Газпромом», оптимістична для української сторони. «Ми останнім часом отримуємо багато інформації вже від трибуналу щодо можливих термінів і результатів. Ми стаємо більш оптимістичними, ніж ми були до цього. І це все, що я можу сказати. Я надто обмежений у будь-яких інших коментарях, поки я не зможу показати остаточне рішення, а це буде найближчим часом», – сказав він в ефірі телевізійного «5-го каналу». Крім того, керівник «Нафтогазу» зазначив, що в «Газпромі» на сьогодні вже обговорюються варіанти можливого програшу. «Газпром» публічно обговорює це питання, і вони також само найближчим часом очікують рішення. Я спостерігаю в публічному домені певну зміну риторики в напрямку того, що можуть бути і варіанти програшу, і різні варіанти. Що це означає? Я не можу сказати, але повторюся – рівень нашого оптимізму потроху зростає», – сказав Коболєв. «Нафтогаз» і «Газпром» подали одне на одного кілька взаємних позовів стосовно газових контрактів 2009 року про постачання і про транзит газу і стосовно їхнього виконання (чи невиконання, як стверджують сторони) до Арбітражного інституту Торгової палати Стокгольма, як передбачено цими контрактами. Загальна сума позовів – десятки мільярдів доларів. …
On World Health Day, WHO Focuses on Depression as Health Issue
The World Health Organization Friday marked World Health Day with the warning that depression is the most common cause of ill health, affecting some 300 million people worldwide. The U.N. agency is urging people to seek treatment for depression, which can lead to disability and even death. WHO says conflict, wars and natural disasters are major risk factors for depression. WHO estimates one in five people affected by these events suffers from depression or anxiety. Given the magnitude of the problem, it says mental health and psychosocial assistance should be a part of all humanitarian assistance. Apart from these situations, WHO reports depression is the leading cause of disability. The director of WHO’s department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Shekhar Saxena, says depression is behind a global epidemic of death by suicide. “All over the world, 800,000 people die because of suicide every year and this converts into a death every 40 seconds,” said Saxena. “So, while we are dealing with the number of deaths, which are of course very unfortunate in conflicts and wars, we also need to remember that there are silent epidemics going on in the world, which are also killing a very large number of people without obvious headlines and banners.” Saxena tells VOA there is no significant difference in the prevalence of depression between developed and developing countries. He notes the majority of people with depression lives in low- and middle-income countries. “Depression is more common amongst the women – 5.1 percent versus 3.6 …
US Unemployment Rate Falls, But Economy Gains Just 98k Jobs
The U.S. economy had a net gain of 98,000 jobs in March, which is much weaker job growth than most economists expected. Payroll growth was slowed by stormy weather in March after unusually good weather helped growth in January and February, according to economist Jed Kolko, of the job web site “Indeed.” Friday’s report from the Labor Department also said the unemployment rate fell two-tenths of a percent, to 4.5 percent. Government data show that is the lowest level since April, 2007. The unemployment rate has been five percent or lower for well over a year. The slight decline in the jobless rate is due to 145,000 people entering the workforce and nearly half a million Americans finding jobs, according to S&P Global Rating’s economist Beth Ann Bovino. She says this is the latest in a series of mostly positive reports on the job market. PNC Bank economist Gus Faucher says the job market “is getting tighter and business are finding it more difficult to hire.” That may force employers to raise wages to attract and keep workers. Job gains were found in professional and business services and mining, while retail continued to lose positions. Faucher also said problems in retail may reflect a shift from traditional stores to on-line commerce. That shift is evident in the announcement that several major retail chains are closing a large number of stories, according to economist Dean Baker of the Center for Economic and Policy Research. While the report shows that …
Unlocking Mysteries of a Fly’s Eye
We have radars to track flying objects, but a tiny fly may be even better at tracking and grabbing fast moving prey. Scientists at the University of Cambridge learned that not only the number of lenses in the fly’s eye, but also their variety, help it focus on fast moving objects. VOA’s George Putic reports. …
Air Force Space Chief Open to Flying on Recycled SpaceX Rockets
The U.S. Air Force is open to buying rides on previously flown SpaceX rockets to put military satellites into orbit, a move expected to cut launch costs for the Pentagon, the head of the Air Force Space Command said on Thursday. The idea of flying on recycled rockets became a reality a week ago when privately owned Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, launched a communications satellite on a Falcon 9 booster that previously put a cargo ship into orbit for NASA. That Falcon main stage had been recovered from a successful return landing on an ocean platform shortly after its maiden flight last April, then was relaunched and salvaged again last Thursday, marking a spaceflight first. “I would be comfortable if we were to fly on a reused booster,” General John “Jay” Raymond told reporters at the U.S. Space Symposium in Colorado Springs. “They’ve proven they can do it. … It’s going to get us to lower cost.” SpaceX has so far won three launch contracts to fly military and national security satellites – business previously awarded exclusively to United Launch Alliance, a partnership of Lockheed Martin and Boeing. All those flights will take place on new Falcon 9 rockets. SpaceX, owned and operated by technology entrepreneur Elon Musk, has a backlog of more than 70 missions worth more than $10 billion. After last week’s landmark launch, Musk said the company planned to fly about 20 more rockets this year, including the debut blastoff of its new heavy-lift vehicle. Up …
Kentucky Coal Museum Gets Power From Solar Panels
Don’t look to the Kentucky Coal Museum to bring coal back. The museum is installing solar panels on its roof, part of a project aimed at lowering the energy costs of one of the city’s largest electric customers. It’s also a symbol of the state’s efforts to move away from coal as its primary energy source as more coal-fired power plants are replaced by natural gas. The state legislature recently lifted its decades-old ban on nuclear power. “It’s a little ironic or coincidental that you are putting solar green energy on a coal museum,” said Roger Noe, a former state representative who sponsored the legislation that created the coal museum. “Coal comes from nature, the sunrays come from nature, so it all works out to be a positive thing.” The museum is in Benham, once a coal camp town whose population peaked at about 3,000, according to Mayor Wanda Humphrey, 85. Today, it has about 500 people. The town’s second building was a company commissary known as the “big store,” where Humphrey would visit every day after school to order an RC Cola and a bag of peanuts, charged to her father’s account. Today, that building houses the Kentucky Coal Museum, which opened in 1994 with the help of some state funding. The museum houses relics from the state’s coal mining past, including some items from the personal collection of “Coal Miner’s Daughter” country singer Loretta Lynn. It’s also the best place in town to get the most direct sunlight, …
Jupiter Aligns With Earth for Its Extra Bright Close-up
Jupiter is extra close and extra bright this week, and that means some amazing, new close-ups. The Hubble Space Telescope zoomed in on the solar system giant Monday, and NASA released the pictures Thursday. Jupiter was a relatively close 415 million miles (668 million kilometers) away. The planet’s Great Red Spot is especially vivid. It’s a storm big enough to swallow Earth, but is mysteriously shrinking. Hubble’s ongoing observations may help explain why. Also visible in the photos is Red Spot Jr. On Friday, Jupiter will be in opposition. That’s when Jupiter, Earth and the sun all line up, with Earth in the middle. Jupiter will appear brighter than usual — the brightest all year. Stargazers won’t want to miss it. Look for one of the brightest objects in the night sky, visible from sundown to sunrise near the moon. …
Ross: Trump Backs EXIM Bank to Boost US Exports
U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross held out hope Thursday that the Trump administration will revive the U.S. Export-Import bank’s full lending powers, saying the institution is part of its “trade toolbox” to boost exports. The U.S. government trade lender has been hobbled for the better part of two years by conservative Republicans in Congress who tried to shut it down in 2015 by revoking its charter, and then limited its lending powers last year by blocking nominations to its board of directors. Big loans impossible With only two active members on its five-seat board, the bank cannot make or guarantee loans of more than $10 million, preventing it from financing large exports such as U.S.-built commercial aircraft, nuclear reactors or petrochemical plants. Thus far, Trump administration officials have not said publicly whether they support reviving EXIM’s full lending powers, but some members of Congress say that Trump has told them privately that he supports the institution. “The bank is part of a domestically focused trade toolbox that this administration will continue to focus on in the coming months,” Ross said in brief video remarks to EXIM’s annual conference in Washington. “We will use that toolbox to rebalance our trade policy in order to put American workers first.” Ross did not provide details of how EXIM will be used in his trade strategy or whether the administration has specific plans to nominate new board members. Trump appears to be an ally He urged hundreds of U.S. manufacturers, lenders and foreign government …
Conservative Groups’ Study Slams Proposed Border Tax
Conservative activist groups that generally support Republicans but oppose a pro-export, anti-import Republican tax proposal released a study on Thursday estimating its impact on individual U.S. states, underscoring the party’s division over taxes. The two activist groups, backed by billionaire industrialists Charles and David Koch, reported that seven states won by President Donald Trump in November’s election would be among the 10 hardest hit by the proposal. Freedom Partners and Americans for Prosperity, both based in the Washington area, said the “border adjustment tax,” or BAT, would harm all 50 states, but that those heavily dependent on imports could suffer most. The report predicted economic harm to Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas — all states Trump won in the 2016 presidential election. The list of hard-hit states also includes California, New Jersey and Illinois, which Democrat Hillary Clinton carried. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady, a Texas Republican who intends to include the BAT in tax reform legislation this spring, sharply criticized the study. ‘Fantasy figures’ “That so-called study will be easily discredited and probably fits the definition of fake news,” Brady told reporters. “It takes one provision, pretends the economy freezes … applies it in our current tax code and comes up with fantasy figures.” BAT, billed as a way to boost U.S. manufacturing, would exempt export revenues from federal tax, while ending the deductibility of import costs by corporations, making imports for production or resale costlier. The plan is part of a …
Trump Adviser From Wall St. Backs US Bank Breakup Law
White House economic adviser Gary Cohn said he backed bringing back the Glass-Steagall Act, a Depression-era law that would revamp Wall Street banks by splitting their consumer-lending businesses from their investment arms. The National Economic Council director, also a former Goldman Sachs president, expressed support to lawmakers for a banking system where firms would focus primarily on trading and underwriting securities or issuing loans. Big banks have strongly opposed such a move that would fundamentally overhaul their business. Reinstating the law, which was repealed in 1999, has not attracted significant attention in Congress, but advocates in the White House and both parties now argue it would provide critical safeguards to prevent another financial crisis. Critics of that approach say it lacks nuance and would not have prevented the last financial meltdown. The fact Cohn, widely viewed as one of Wall Street’s own, was willing to push that position spooked big banks’ representatives in Washington. The White House confirmed Cohn’s remarks in a private meeting with lawmakers on Wednesday. A spokesperson said he was “simply discussing the President’s previously stated position” in favor of a “21st century Glass-Steagall.” Cohn’s remarks were first reported by Bloomberg. The Trump administration has indicated support for a return to Glass-Steagall. The White House has stuck by the idea since it was included in the Republican Party platform during the presidential campaign, and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin expressed interest in a modernized version of the law. When asked on Thursday when large financial institutions should begin …
Tensions Rise as General Strike Paralyzes Argentina
Protesters in Argentina clashed with police during marches over government austerity measures on Thursday as labor unions challenged President Mauricio Macri in the first general strike since he took office 16 months ago. Security forces used high-powered water cannon and tear gas to control picketers who had blocked the Pan-American Highway, the main road leading from the north to capital city Buenos Aires, where normally bustling streets were half-empty and businesses were closed. Truck and bus drivers, teachers, factory workers, airport employees and the government customs agents who run Argentina’s all-important grains export sector walked off the job at midnight for 24 hours. “No customs officials are here, so there will be no exports or imports today,” said Guillermo Wade, manager of the maritime chamber at Argentina’s main grain hub of Rosario. The country is the world’s top exporter of soymeal livestock feed and the third-largest supplier of soybeans. Macri took office in December 2015. He eliminated currency and trade controls and cut government spending, including gas subsidies, a move that steeply pushed up home-heating bills. The strike came as Macri welcomed hundreds of potential investors and foreign officials to a meeting of the World Economic Forum in Buenos Aires. Blocks away from the hotel where the meeting was held, protesters clamored for wage increases in line with inflation, which was 40 percent last year and expected to be about 20 percent in 2017. “The situation is dramatic,” Julio Piumato, a spokesman for labor umbrella group CGT, said in a …
Речник МВФ припустив іще три транші для України цього року в разі поступу в реформах
Речник Міжнародного валютного фонду Джеррі Райс заявив, що ще цього року Україна може отримати від МВФ іще три транші позики на загальну суму близько 4,4 мільярда доларів, але наголосив, що це обумовлене виконанням реформ, передбачених програмою співпраці. Як сказав він на прес-конференції у Вашингтоні, головними цілями програми на наступні кілька місяців є, зокрема, всеосяжна пенсійна реформа, поступ у приватизації, створення ринку продажу сільськогосподарських земель, також важливим елементом цієї програми є рішуча боротьба з корупцією. «У принципі, ми можемо завершити цього року ще три перегляди (програми співпраці з Україною – ред.) – якщо, наголошую, все буде відбуватися за планом. Це залежить від здатності влади вчасно виконати зобов’язання щодо реформ за цією програмою. Це майже самозрозуміло, але це дуже важливе застереження. Ці три перегляди, якщо вони будуть завершені, можуть привести до надання ще приблизно 4,4 мільярда доларів цього року – але, знову ж таки, це залежить від поступу за програмою і здійснення реформ», – сказав речник. За його словами, залежно від дій Києва ці плани МВФ іще можуть змінитися. У Національному банку України у вівторок заявляли, що до кінця року Україна очікує надходження від МВФ 4,5 мільярдів доларів. У понеділок, 3 квітня, Міжнародний валютний фонд за результатами завершення третього перегляду виконання програми співпраці ухвалив рішення надати Україні четвертий транш позики за програмою розширеного фінансування в розмірі близько 1 мільярда доларів. Цього рішення очікували ще 20 березня, але Рада директорів МВФ перенесла його. В Міністерстві фінансів України тоді це пояснили необхідністю уточнення розрахунків, зокрема, наслідків від заходів, застосованих Україною у відповідь на блокаду …