In Brief: Car sales continue to slump; Tourism revenue falling; LPG prices up

Car sales have continued to stall in recent months with only 320,600 units sold in July, or 15.6% less than in the same period last year. According to first quarter data, of the major auto companies, only Volkswagen, Peugeot, Toyota and Citroen recorded better sales than last year. (Puls Biznesu, page 6) ... Poland generates more than a quarter of its foreign exchange from tourism but revenues in the sector have been falling in part due to lack of adequate tourist infrastructure. Analysts are forecasting gloomy days ahead with revenues likely to fall by up to 25%. The Polish tourist bureaus abroad, mostly in the European Union (EU) and North America, are also too few to cater to the ever growing number of tourists. (Puls Biznesu, page 8) ... The fall in imports of liquid petroleum gas (LPG) from Russia and the ever increasing imports from the west has pushed prices at gas stations up from zl. 1 to zl. 1.40 per liter. There are also rumors that the Finance Ministry is contemplating levying a duty of up to 80% on LPG. (Rzeczpospolita, page A1)