Monday, 17 June 2013 21:01
Posted by Muhammad Iqbal
BUDAPEST: Hungary's government announced on Monday another round of austerity measures in the form of tax hikes even though its economic and budgetary prospects are looking brighter.The moves include raising a tax on financial transactions to 0.6 percent from 0.3 percent and a levy on financial transfers to 0.3 percent from 0.2 percent, Economy Minister Mihaly Varga said.A telecoms tax was also increased to three forints (0.0069 euros, $0.0046) per phone call or text message from two forints, while the tax rate for mining companies moved up to 16 percent from 12 percent.In May the European Commission proposed removing Hungary from its special budgetary monitoring procedure, where it has been since joining the European Union in 2004, after progress cutting its deficit."We are happy to exit the excessive deficit procedure, but we have to build on our achievements and look at the deficit long term," government spokesman Andras Giro-Szasz told ...
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BUDAPEST: Hungary's government announced on Monday another round of austerity measures in the form of tax hikes even though its economic and budgetary prospects are looking brighter.The moves include raising a tax on financial transactions to 0.6 percent from 0.3 percent and a levy on financial transfers to 0.3 percent from 0.2 percent, Economy Minister Mihaly Varga said.A telecoms tax was also increased to three forints (0.0069 euros, $0.0046) per phone call or text message from two forints, while the tax rate for mining companies moved up to 16 percent from 12 percent.In May the European Commission proposed removing Hungary from its special budgetary monitoring procedure, where it has been since joining the European Union in 2004, after progress cutting its deficit."We are happy to exit the excessive deficit procedure, but we have to build on our achievements and look at the deficit long term," government spokesman Andras Giro-Szasz told ...
BERLIN: German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday she was surprised by revelations of mass US online surveillance and that she would call for "transparency" on its scope in talks with President Barack Obama this week. Merkel confirmed in an interview with commercial broadcaster RTL that she would discuss with Obama an issue which has caused deep unease in Germany, where memories of the East German Stasi's spying on citizens are still raw."I will call ...
KUALA LUMPUR: A French-flagged tanker has been released after it was captured four days ago in the piracy-plagued waters off West Africa, the International Maritime Bureau said on Monday.In a short alert, the IMB's Kuala Lumpur-based piracy reporting centre said the vessel was "released" earlier Monday and "is now proceeding to a safe port".The centre said the tanker was taken by pirates but did not say whether there were any losses, and could not be ...
BELFAST: US President Barack Obama on Monday urged young people in Northern Ireland to finish making "permanent peace" and set an example to other parts of the world stricken by religious conflict, violence and war.Obama, accompanied by his wife Michelle, stopped in Belfast before leaving for the G8 summit, which is being held at a secluded lakeside hotel not far from the site of one of the worst killings in the province's conflict.A 1998 peace ...
LONDON: Queen Elizabeth II's husband Prince Philip walked out of hospital on Monday, 10 days after the 92-year-old underwent exploratory abdominal surgery.The royal patriarch, who went under the knife on June 7, smiled and waved as he left the private London Clinic in the centre of the British capital.He had been expected to remain in hospital for up to two weeks following the operation, and he plans to spend two months recuperating.Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), ...
PRISTINA: Kosovo and Serbia were set to exchange liaison officers who will help monitor implementation of an EU-brokered deal on normalising ties between the two sides, Kosovo's officer said on Sunday."As of tomorrow (Monday) I will start to work in my office in Belgrade," Kosovo liaison officer Lulzim Peci told AFP.The move "will contribute to improving ties between Belgrade and Pristina since, for the first time, liaison officers will communicate directly with the government in ...
BERLIN: Germany on Sunday urged Turkey to "respect the freedom to demonstrate and freedom of expression," in a tweet by government spokesman Steffen Seibert."The German government has warned several times: freedom to demonstrate and freedom of expression must be guaranteed and peaceful citizens respected," the spokesman said, reacting to the latest violence in Turkey.In another tweet, Seibert said there should be "a continuation of dialogue" in Turkey, adding: "The German government again calls on all ...
