Journal (english)
With Business
Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift:
With Business
The Riga Real Estate Collapse
Real estate agent Victors Savins can't find buyers for any of his houses and projects right now. And with no sales his bank won't extend him any more credit. As Latvian construction sites sit idle, Savins can only hope for better times.
It's been the same all over Latvia since the global credit crunch brought an abrupt end to an era of cheap credit. On top of that the easy money left behind a legacy of inflation, so the government has now frozen public sector wages. Latvians are used to crises, but the move has led to angry union protests and widespread fatalism.
NUMBER CRUNCHER:
Germans donated 903 million euros to charitable causes in the first half of 2008 - 60 million more than the first half 2007. Most of the money went to humanitarian aid projects, especially Asian regions hit by natural disasters. Children came next, followed by churches, cultural institutions, ancient monuments and historic buildings. Aid organisations were pleased; they'd been fearing a reduction in donations, in the face of accelerating energy and food prices and the global financial crisis.
