Producer price index up 1.0% m/m and 7.2% y/y in March 2015
PPI for industrial products increased 1.0% m/m in March 2015 according to GeoStat. Monthly index was mainly impacted by 0.8% increase in manufacturing prices (mostly for foods, beverages, tobacco, manufacture of paper, and publishing), contributing 0.69ppts to overall index change. The prices fell 4.3% m/m for manufacture of chemical products and 1.2% m/m for manufacture of basic metals.
Annual PPI increased 7.2% in March 2015 with manufacturing prices increasing 9.3% y/y (mostly for food, beverages, tobacco, manufacture of paper, publishing, and manufacture of basic metals), contributing 7.61ppts to overall index change. In this category prices dropped for manufacture of chemical products (-19.9% y/y). The prices also decreased 3.4% y/y (-0.44ppts) in the electricity, gas, and water supply category.
Money transfers down 23.5% y/y in March 2015
Money transfers decreased 23.5% y/y to US$ 92.2mn in March 2015 according to NBG. The 42.4% y/y drop in transfers from Russia, accounting for 37.2% of total transfers, had a major negative impact. Remittances significantly increased from USA +33.5% y/y (9.2% of total), Turkey +21.3% y/y (7.2%), and Israel +43.9% y/y (2.8%) in March.
Trade deficit increased 9.4% y/y in March 2015
According to GeoStat’s preliminary figures, the trade deficit increased 9.4% y/y as exports fell 30.1% y/y to US$ 179mn, while imports were down 5.0% y/y to US$ 666mn in March 2015.
