According to the latest survey, the number of corporations and organizations in the USA freezing salaries in 2009 has declined compared to 2008. The Mercer’s 2009/2010 US Compensation Planning Survey Update, released December 21st, shows that in the suffering economic conditions 30 percent of employers froze salaries, but only 14 percent planned to continue to hold earnings in 2010. The report indicates that average pay rises of 3.2 percent were seen in 2009, and the planned pay increases for 2010 are expected ... Read More

On December 18th, 2009, the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) released the fourth report covering state aid granted in Iceland, Lichtenstein and Norway, for the period between 2004 to the end of the 2008 year. The paper was prepared in co-operation with European Commission and includes comparisons with countries of the EU. A total of €2,234.88 million was granted in state aid across the three surveyed countries in 2008, indicating an overall increase in grants across the countries. 98.9 percent of this amount ... Read More

Nations across the globe are facing a period of contracting GDP figures, though Australia has reported another quarter of continued growth. The latest Australian National Account release shows that the country's GDP figure rose by 0.2 percent during the previous quarter. On December 16th, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released the country's National Account report for the September Quarter. The report figures show that the seasonally adjusted GDP figure rose by 0.2 percent compared to the June quarter, and 0.5 percent compared ... Read More

Increasing fiscal transparency was an important issue in the economic and political spectrum of the 2009 year. With only a few weeks remaining in 2009, December happened to be one of the most active month of the passing year, with Governments around the globe completing efforts made in negotiations of Double Taxation Agreements (DTA) and Tax Information Exchange Agreements (TIEA). In an unprecedented step, Switzerland wishes to cease ratification of its DTA with France in protest at the French authorities' handling of account ... Read More

On December 15th, Chile was invited to become a member of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Chile will become the 31st member nation of the OECD, and only the second country in Latin America, after Mexico, being a member since 1994. In 2007 the OECD initiated accession negotiations with Chile, Estonia, Israel, the Russian Federation and Slovenia. So far, throughout the two years of negotiations and reviews by 20 OECD Committees, only Chile has fully met the organization's requirements ... Read More