Italian Production Improves; Turkey Deficit Narrows

Arthi Gupta
13 Jun, 2011
New York City

Finland wages and salaries rose in April. Italian industrial production improved in April. Turkey''s current account deficit narrowed, industrial new orders, and turnover increased in April. Croatian retail sales increased in April.

[R]2:00 PM Frankfurt – Finland wages and salaries rose in April. Italian industrial production improved in April. Turkey''s current account deficit narrowed, industrial new orders, and turnover increased in April. Croatian retail sales increased in April.[/R]

Finland Wages and Salaries Up

Finnish employees’ wages and salaries sum, which refers to the sum of the gross wages and salaries excluding incentive stock options, increased a seasonally adjusted 5.3% annually in April compared to the 5.5% increase in March, data released by Statistics Finland showed on Monday.

Italian Industrial Production Improves

Italy''s industrial production rose 1% on a monthly basis in April as against the revised 0.7% expansion in March, data from the statistics office Istat showed.

On a yearly basis, industrial production rose a calendar adjusted 3.7% in April, following the 3.4% growth in March.

Turkey''s Current Account Deficit Narrows, Industrial New Orders, Turnover Climb

Turkey''s current account deficit narrowed to $7.68 billion in April from $9.7 billion in March, data from the central bank showed today.

During the first four months of the year, the current account deficit rose to $29.6 billion compared to $13.86 billion during the same period last year.

Turkey''s industrial new orders increased 27.7% annually in April versus the 27.3% rise in March, data released by the Turkish Statistics Institute showed.

Orders of intermediate goods climbed 27.3%, while orders of capital goods grew 38.8% in April. There was an 18.1% rise in orders of durable consumer goods, and a 19.2% annual growth in orders of non-durable consumer goods.

On a monthly basis, industrial orders decreased 5.3% in April, reversing the 15.7% growth recorded in March.

However, Turkish industrial turnover edged higher 28.7% annually in April, after increasing 26.6% in March, the agency said. Turnover in the manufacturing sector grew 28.1%, while mining and quarrying turnover increased 17.6% in April.

On a monthly basis, factory turnover decreased 3.6% in April, after increasing 17% in March.

Croatian Retail Sales Increase

Croatia''s retail sales volume increased 8.9% on a monthly basis in April, data released by the Croatian Bureau of Statistics showed on Monday. Retail sales, excluding the sale of motor vehicles and motorcycles grew 9.9% in April.

Annually, retail sales grew 3.7% in April, rebounding from the 2% decrease recorded in March.

Latvia Current Account Balance Generates Surplus

Latvia''s current account balance showed a surplus of LVL 41.3 million in April compared to a deficit of LVL 13.9 million in March, the central bank said.