Eurozone deflation gathering paceJanuary 30, 2015 - 14:32 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Deflation across the 19 countries that use the eurozone currency is gathering pace, BBC News reports. In January, prices in the eurozone were 0.6% down on their levels a year ago. The figure shows the eurozone heading deeper into deflationary territory from December, when prices were 0.2% down on the year before. A large contributor to falling prices is the cost of energy, with oil prices down almost 60% on the middle of last year. Energy prices plunged 8.9% in January. Last week The European Central Bank (ECB) launched a quantitative easing programme injecting money into the economy to try to pull prices back up. There was better news on unemployment which fell to 11.4% in December, down from 11.5% in November and 11.8% a year before. Related links: Top stories Yerevan has dismissed Turkey’s demand to shut down the Armenian nuclear power plant as “inappropriate”. Armenia will loan 2.9 billion drams to Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh), according to a draft government decision. The Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan has “strongly condemned” Armenia’s decision. Kerobyan has said that for the first time in the history of Armenia, the volume of foreign direct investments amounted to about $1 billion. Partner news | Russian Ambassador to Armenia summoned to Moscow for consultations Russian Ambassador to Armenia Sergei Kopyrkin has been summoned to Moscow for consultations. Azerbaijan says now controls 4 villages as part of deal with Armenia Azerbaijan's border service has taken control of four villages in the Gazakh district on the border with Armenia. Lukashenko has "very interesting proposal" involving Caucasus Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko has said he has "a very interesting proposal" involving the Caucasus region. Azerbaijan establishing three military colleges Three military colleges are being established in Azerbaijan, according to a decree signed by the country’s Prime Minister Ali Asadov. |