The US Treasury Department published the budget balance report for December 2023.

Accordingly, the federal government’s budget deficit was calculated as 129 billion dollars in the third month of the 2024 fiscal year, which started on October 1, 2023 and will end on September 30, 2024.

The federal government had a budget deficit of $85 billion in December of the previous year. Thus, the budget deficit increased by 52 percent in December 2023 compared to the same month of the previous year.

The market expectation regarding the budget balance in this period was for a deficit of 65.3 billion dollars.

While the government’s revenues decreased by 6 percent to 429 billion dollars in December last year, its expenditures increased by 3 percent to 559 billion dollars.

21 percent increase in three-month budget deficit

As of December, the third month of the 2024 fiscal year in the country, the total budget deficit increased by 21 percent compared to the same period of the previous year, reaching 510 billion dollars.

The deficit in question was at the level of 421 billion dollars in the same period of the previous year.

Expenditures in the first 3 months of the fiscal year increased by 12 percent compared to the same period of the previous year, reaching 1.6 trillion dollars, and revenues increased by approximately 8 percent to 1.1 billion dollars.

The US budget deficit increased by 23 percent in the 2023 fiscal year compared to the previous year, reaching 1.7 trillion dollars.

MOST VALUED PROVINCE ANTALYA

According to the data, Antalya was the province with the highest value per square meter of residences for sale in 2022!

Antalya, which was under the intense interest of foreign investors due to the Russian-Ukrainian crisis, left other provinces behind and came to the top.

So much so that while the average square meter value of the residences for sale in Antalya in 2021 was 6 thousand 957 TL, at the end of this year, the average square meter increased to 20 thousand 686 TL.

Konyaaltı was the most valued region in Antalya. Kaş, Kemer and Alanya followed Konyaaltı.

The average square meter value of the residences in Konyaaltı, which was 11 thousand 725 liras last year, increased to 33 thousand 199 TL in 2022.

10 MOST EXPENSIVE DISTRICTS

According to the data of Hepsiemlak for the year 2022, Istanbul took the first 10 places in the list of the most expensive districts of Turkey for the residential for sale per square meter. The Bosphorus districts in Istanbul clearly outperformed the others with the addition of mansion values.

Here are the 10 most expensive neighborhoods in Turkey and their square meter prices:

1) Istanbul-Sarıyer-Baltalimanı 217,949 TL

2) Istanbul-Üsküdar-Kandilli 175,000 TL

3) Istanbul-Sarıyer-Rumeli Fortress 171,429 TL

4) Istanbul-Beşiktaş-Levazım 156,863 TL

5) Istanbul-Sarıyer-Yeniköy 153,659 TL

6) Istanbul-Sisli-Harbiye 150,000 TL

7) Istanbul-Beşiktaş-Bebek 136,000 TL

8) Istanbul-Beşiktaş-Ulus 106,571 TL

9) Istanbul-Beşiktaş-Vişnezade 104,167 TL

10) Istanbul-Beşiktaş-Arnavutköy 104,000 TL

(Haberturk)

Construction cost index increased by 3.44 percent in October 2022 compared to the previous month and increased by 117.07 percent compared to the same month of the previous year. Compared to the previous month, the material index increased by 3.88 percent and the labor index increased by 1.94 percent. In addition, the material index increased by 128.41 percent and the labor index increased by 85.65 percent compared to the same month of the previous year.

CONSTRUCTION COST INDEX FOR OUTDOOR BUILDINGS INCREASED 125.83 PERCENT ANNUAL AND 4.48 PERCENT MONTHLY

Construction cost index for non-building structures is 4.48 percent compared to the previous month; increased by 125.83 percent compared to the same month of the previous year. Compared to the previous month, the material index is 5.12 percent; The labor index increased by 2.07 percent. In addition, the material index increased by 139.40 percent and the labor index increased by 84.93 percent compared to the same month of the previous year.

Istanbul, which was in the first place in sales to foreigners in the previous 68 months when the statistics started to be published, lost the peak to Antalya in July and August. In September, Istanbul was once again the province with the highest number of sales to foreigners, and in October, the summit was again in Antalya.

In October, the share of house sales to foreigners in total house sales was 5.2 percent. Antalya took the first place in house sales to foreigners with the sale of 2 thousand 123 houses. Antalya was followed by Istanbul with 1,658 sales and Mersin with 490 sales, respectively.

Foreigners bought 33.58 percent of the residences in Antalya, which ranks 3rd with a 6.2 percent share in sales and 6 thousand 323 residences across the country.

Other provinces with the highest sales to foreigners were listed as follows: Mersin – 17.22 percent, Yalova – 13.23 percent, Istanbul – 9.76 percent.

Проект постановления правительства, предусматривающий официальную продажу так называемых статусных государственных регистрационных знаков (ГРЗ) на аукционах был разработан Минэкономразвития еще в 2019 году. Документ, который размещен на федеральном портале проектов нормативно-правовых актов, должен был вступить в силу еще в январе 2021 года, позже его введение перенесли ровно на год, сообщал «Коммерсант».

Однако, как узнала «Газета.Ru», это постановление все еще не одобрено кабинетом министров, и в ближайшее время все процедуры по этому проекту постановления не завершатся. В пресс-службе Минэкономразвития эту информацию «Газете.Ru» прокомментировали следующим образом:

«Разработка данной инициативы продолжается, в настоящий момент документ находится на межведомственном согласовании».

МВД и Минцифры на официальные запросы о внедрении аукционов по продаже автомобильных регистрационных знаков на момент подготовки материала не ответили.

Проектом постановления правительства предполагалось, что автомобилисты через портал «Госуслуги» смогут резервировать понравившиеся номера, а затем выкупать их на онлайн-аукционе.

Максимальная ставка (600 тыс. рублей) предусматривалась за ГРЗ с сочетанием трех одинаковых букв и цифр (О111ОО, М333ММ и т.д.). Более простые номера, вроде Н200НН, оценивались в 450 тыс. рублей. При этом планировалось наделить региональные власти правом увеличивать или уменьшать размер базовой ставки в десять раз. Половина средств от продажи ГРЗ на аукционах должна была пойти в региональные бюджеты, а вторая половина – в федеральный.

The United States and European Union agreed to temporarily suspend tariffs levied on billions of dollars of each others’ aircraft, wine, food, and other products as both sides try to find a negotiated settlement to a long-running dispute over the two leading airplanes manufacturers.

President Biden and Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, agreed in a phone call on Friday to suspend all tariffs imposed in the dispute over subsidies given to Boeing and Airbus for “an initial period of four months,” Ms. von der Leyen said in a statement.

“This is excellent news for businesses and industries on both sides of the Atlantic and a very positive signal for our economic cooperation in the years to come,” she said.

In a statement, the White House said Mr. Biden had “underscored his support for the European Union and his commitment to repair and revitalize the U.S.-E.U. partnership.”

The World Trade Organization had authorized both the United States and Europe to impose tariffs on each other as part of two parallel disputes, which began almost two decades ago, over subsidies the governments have given to Airbus and Boeing. The E.U. had imposed tariffs on roughly $4 billion of American products, while the United States levied tariffs on $7.5 billion of European goods.

The aircraft dispute is an early test of the Biden administration’s ability to rebuild America’s relationship with Europe, which U.S. officials see as crucial for accomplishing other trade and foreign policy goals.

Former President Donald J. Trump took a more adversarial and aggressive stance toward the bloc. He accused it of cheating the United States on trade and imposed tariffs on European metals, aircraft and other products. He also threatened further tariffs against European automakers.

The Biden administration has said it would restore ties with the E.U., formerly a close ally, as it seeks to form coalitions to take on bigger global problems, like China’s unfair trade practices. And it has committed to pressing Europe for a settlement on the aircraft dispute, as well as other continuing trade spats over metals, digital service taxes and other issues.

“Finally, we are emerging from the trade war between the United States and Europe, which created only losers,” Bruno Le Maire, the French finance minister, said on Twitter. He added that a burden would be lifted for French winegrowers, whose sales have been pummeled by steep retaliatory tariffs that the Trump administration imposed on imports to the United States.

In a joint statement with the European Union, the Office of the United States Trade Representative said the suspension would take effect “as soon as the internal procedures on both sides are completed” and that the agreement signaled “the determination of both sides to embark on a fresh start in the relationship.”

The statement said both sides were committed to reaching a comprehensive solution to the disputes, which would include rules on future aircraft subsidies, monitoring and enforcement, and efforts to address “the trade distortive practices of and challenges posed by new entrants to the sector from nonmarket economies, such as China.”

The Distilled Spirits Council, a trade group representing the liquor industry, called the decision a “a promising breakthrough in the longstanding trade dispute on civil aircraft subsidies, which has left much destruction to the spirits sector in its wake.”

The deal would suspend a 25 percent tariff imposed by Europe on American rum, brandy and vodka, as well as a 25 percent tariff the United States imposed on liqueurs and cordials from Germany, Ireland, Italy and Spain, and Cognacs and other grape brandies from France and Germany.

On Thursday, the United States said it would temporarily suspend tariffs levied against the United Kingdom, including on Scotch whisky, as part of the dispute for a period of four months. (The New York Times)

WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration on Saturday authorized Johnson & Johnson’s single-shot Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use, beginning the rollout of millions of doses of a third effective vaccine that could reach Americans by early next week.

The announcement arrived at a critical moment, as the steep decline in coronavirus cases seems to have plateaued and millions of Americans are on waiting lists for shots.

Johnson & Johnson has pledged to provide the United States with 100 million doses by the end of June. When combined with the 600 million doses from the two-shot vaccines made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna slated to arrive by the end of July, there will be more than enough shots to cover any American adult who wants one.

But federal and state health officials are concerned that even with strong data to support it, some people may perceive Johnson & Johnson’s shot as an inferior option.

The new vaccine’s 72 percent efficacy rate in the U.S. clinical trial site — a number scientists have celebrated — falls short of the roughly 95 percent rate found in studies testing the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines. Across all trial sites, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine also showed 85 percent efficacy against severe forms of Covid-19 and 100 percent efficacy against hospitalization and death.

“Don’t get caught up, necessarily, on the number game, because it’s a really good vaccine, and what we need is as many good vaccines as possible,” Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the government’s top infectious disease expert, said in an interview on Saturday. “Rather than parsing the difference between 94 and 72, accept the fact that now you have three highly effective vaccines. Period.”

If Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine would have been the first to be authorized in the United States instead of the third, “everybody would be doing handstands and backflips and high-fives,” said Dr. James T. McDeavitt, dean of clinical affairs at the Baylor College of Medicine.

On Sunday a committee of vaccine experts who advise the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will meet to discuss whether certain population groups should be prioritized for the vaccine, guidance that state health officials have been eagerly awaiting in anticipation of the F.D.A.’s authorization.

One administration official familiar with the distribution of the vaccine said that shipments would begin on Monday and deliveries could arrive as soon as Tuesday.

Johnson & Johnson has said it will ship nearly four million doses as soon as the F.D.A. authorizes distribution and another 16 million or so doses by the end of March. That is far fewer than the 37 million doses called for in its $1 billion federal contracts, but the contract says that deliveries that are 30 days late will still be considered timely.

The federal government is paying the firm $10 a dose for a total of 100 million doses to be ready by the end of June, substantially less per dose than it agreed to pay Moderna and Pfizer, which developed its vaccine with a German partner, BioNTech.

Johnson & Johnson’s one-dose vaccine will allow states to rapidly increase the number of people who have been fully inoculated. Unlike the other two vaccines, they can be stored at standard refrigeration temperatures for at least three months.

Dr. Danny Avula, the vaccine coordinator for Virginia, said the Johnson & Johnson shipments would boost the state’s allotment of vaccine next week by nearly one-fifth.

“I’m super-pumped about this,” he said. “A hundred percent efficacy against deaths and hospitalizations? That’s all I need to hear.”

He said the state was planning mass vaccination events specifically for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, partly to quell any suspicion that it is a lesser product targeted to specific groups.

“It will be super clear that this is Johnson & Johnson, here’s what you need to know about it. If you want to do this, you’re coming in with eyes wide open,” he said. “If not, you will keep your place on the list.” (The New York Times)

Aware of the chaos and distraction Donald Trump has proved he can muster, the president-elect and his advisers have developed a strategy they believe is the only way to neutralize the threat: ignore him.

One lesson of Biden’s winning presidential campaign, they say, is that there’s little incentive to engage with Trump and that his penchant for spectacle is wearing thin with the American people. The tension will reach a head-on Jan. 6, when Congress formally ratifies Biden’s victory as Trump’s supporters’ wage protests both on the streets of Washington, egged on by the president, and within the House and Senate.

Biden has been “adamant that we were not going to get down in the gutter with Donald Trump every day,” said adviser Kate Bedingfield. “That’s not who he is, and that’s not what the American people want to see in a president.”

But the incoming administration is going to have trouble ignoring Trump, who’s poised to remain at least an aggravation to Biden. After refusing to concede defeat and declaring the election he lost to be illegitimate, he’s made clear he doesn’t plan to quietly retire, and has told associates he’ll run for president again in 2024.

For generations, U.S. presidents leaving the office to a successor of the opposition party have yielded power gracefully — even those defeated for re-election after a single term. But Trump’s attitude has set up the most awkward transfer of power in modern history and threatens to hamstring Biden as he confronts a long list of crises.

“This is unprecedented territory,” said Steve Israel, a former eight-term Democratic congressman from New York and director of the Institute of Politics and Global Affairs at Cornell University. “We’ve never had a former president who is dedicated to the proposition of the failure of his successor.”

Biden’s team regards Trump’s attempts to overturn the will of voters — including his effort to recruit Republican lawmakers to challenge the congressional certification of the election results on Wednesday — as doing more harm to the outgoing president’s legacy than to Biden.

And they believe there are already signs that Trump’s bully pulpit and ability to command public attention is eroding, including waning media coverage of his election-related antics and congressional Republicans’ willingness to buck the president in recent legislative battles, including the first override of a Trump veto.

But Biden’s strategy to deprive Trump of attention will likely face frequent and immediate tests.

The outgoing president, sensing that his remaining power lies with still-formidable base supporters, has spent recent weeks threatening Republican lawmakers who dare to cross him.

Trump has repeatedly emphasized that he captured 74 million votes, a record for a defeated presidential candidate, and asserted that his presence on the ballot helped Republicans win election and re-election to federal offices.

“Republicans in the Senate so quickly forget,” he tweeted on Dec. 22. “Right now they would be down 8 seats without my backing them in the last Election.” In the same post, Trump predicted that John Thune, the number two Senate Republican, would lose a 2022 GOP primary challenge, “political career over!!!”….. (BOSTON GLOBE)

Derlenen bilgilere göre, salgın nedeniyle mart ayında hava yolu ulaşımında kademeli olarak uçak seferleri durdurulmuştu. Salgının tüm dünyada yayılması üzerine Bilim Kurulunun önerisiyle ülke yurt dışı uçuşlara kapatılırken, yurt içi uçuşlara da ara verilmişti.

Kovid-19 salgınının yavaş yavaş gerilemeye başlamasıyla Ramazan Bayramı sonrasında ulaşımda normalleşme adımları atılacak.

Bu kapsamda biletleri daha önce satışa çıkarılan hava yolu sektöründe seferlerin 4 Haziran itibarıyla başlaması öngörülüyor. İlk etapta iç hat daha sonra dış hatlarda uçak seferlerinin başlaması bekleniyor.

DEMİR YOLUNDA BİLETLER SATIŞA ÇIKTI

Demir yolu sektöründe ise konvansiyonel ve YHT hatlarında 28 Mayıs itibarıyla başlaması planlanan seferler için hazırlıklar sürdürülüyor. Bu tarih itibarıyla yapılacak tren seferleri için biletler bugün satışa sunuldu.

Normalleşme sürecinde YHT’ler 28 Mayıs’tan itibaren Ankara-İstanbul, Ankara-Eskişehir, Ankara-Konya, Konya-İstanbul hatlarında günde toplam 16 sefer yapacak.

Tren biletleri öncelikle temassız olarak mobil uygulama/internet sitesinden ya da gişelerden satın alınabilecek. Çağrı merkezi ve acentelerden bilet satışı yapılmayacak.

Marmaray ve Başkentray gibi şehir içi hatlarında bu süreçte seferler durdurulmazken, sefer sayılarının yavaş yavaş artırılması öngörülüyor.

Hem hava hem de demir yolunda bilet satış işlemleri yolcuların Kovid-19 ile ilgili durumlarını tetkik etmek amacıyla Sağlık Bakanlığı bilişim sistemleri veri tabanı üzerinden Hayat Eve Sığar (HES) koduyla gerçekleştirilecek. Giriş çıkış yasağı olan iller için ise “seyahat izin belgesi” alınması da gerekiyor.

KİRALARLA İLGİLİ DÜZENLEME YAPILDI… Bakanlar Kurulu, kiralarla ilgili bir takım düzenlemelere gitti ve bu doğrultuda Yasa Gücünde Kararnameler hazırlayarak Resmi Gazete’de yayımladı. Buna göre devlet ve Vakıf İdaresi kiracısı olanlara nisan ve mayıs ayı kiraları için indirim ve taksit imkânı sunuldu. Ayrıca diğer kiracılara da yine aynı aylardaki kiraları için 6 ay taksit imkanı verildi. “İŞYERLERİ HÂLÂ ZARAR EDİYOR”… Kıbrıs Türk Esnaf ve Zanaatkarlar Odası Başkanı Mahmut Kanber, hem döviz, hem de Koronavirüs nedeniyle esnafın ekonomik anlamda çok zor durumda olduğunu belirterek, işyerlerinin açılmasıyla ekonomik hareketliliğin hemen başlamadığını söyledi. Kanber, işyerlerinin kapalı olduğu dönemde işyeri sahiplerinin zararının yüzde 100, açılmasıyla birlikte de yüzde 70 olduğunu anlattı. (Kıbrıs Gazetesi)