The 2019 Economic Freedom Report by The Heritage Foundation shows that the world seems to be at a crossroads — it may continue on the path of economic freedom or it may return to hindered growth and development.
The European Union is the largest single market in the world, governed by uniform rules set out in the directives and regulations. However, the interpretation of these rules is determined by the EU bureaucracy.
According to the latest Eurostat data, hourly labor costs rose by 2.5 per cent in the Eurozone and by 2.7 per cent in the EU28 in the Q3’18 y/y. The corresponding numbers for the Q2’18 were 2.3 per cent and 2.7 per cent respectively.
Against the background of deteriorating relations between the United States and China, the European Union's strong economic ties with the two countries pose a serious dilemma.
This year Latvian tax authorities are investigating 131 money laundering cases. Recently, the European Central Bank has decided to increase its supervision of European banks at high risk of money laundering, including Latvian banks.
According to the OECD experts, there is no significant need to increase the taxation of various forms of household savings in the developed countries but a lot could be improved in the design of these taxes.
Swedbank, the largest bank in the Baltic region, said it won't be drawn into the money laundering scandals that have affected some of its neighbors in the Baltics.
In the last year there were fewer international mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and fewer investment projects of factories built from scratch. The value of FDIs in Poland fell by more than a half.
Rail Baltica’s woes to continue as Lithuanian Latvian and Estonian auditors launch a probe into the internal control systems and public procurement strategies of the company. At the same time, Baiba Rubesa, CEO of the joint venture, resigned.
Over the course of the last dozen or so months, EU institutions, as well as the Polish Financial Supervision Authority have intensified their efforts to help fintech companies to develop.