Editor’s Picks /
07 June 2016 at 23:58 GMT
The Sydney Morning Herald
The World Bank has slashed its global growth forecast to an “insipid” 2.4% amid what it calls stubbornly low commodity prices, faltering growth in advanced economies, weak global trade and shrinking capital flows. “Looking ahead, the prospects of global growth remain muted,” said the Bank's chief economist Kaushik Basu, launching the report. The Bank has cut its forecast for US growth from 2.7% to 1.9%, for Japan from 1.3% to 0.5%, for the Euro area from 2.7% to 1.9%, for developing countries from 4.8Z% to 4.4% and for advanced economies from 2.2% to 1.7%t. China's forecast remains unchanged at 6.7%. For oil importers, falling prices have not translated into the large boost to growth that was expected.
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01 May 2016 at 22:05 GMT
Nikkei Asian Review
Falling commodities prices have rekindled fears that resource-dependent African countries, which went on a borrowing binge amid the market boom, could fall into a debt crisis. Angola, the continent's second-largest oil producer, began talks on a bailout with the IMF this month. It hopes to receive up to $4.5 billion in loans in exchange for fiscal reforms. Zambia, among the world's biggest copper producers, also requested assistance from the IMF in March. African countries have issued $110bn in public and corporate bonds over the last five years, 72% of which were denominated in dollars. Resource-dependent countries have seen their currencies plummet against the greenback with the swoon in commodities prices, making dollar-denominated debt an even heavier burden.
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Article /
15 April 2016 at 5:01 GMT
Blogger / MoreLiver's Daily
Finland
It looks like a quiet data day ahead of the IMF weekend and next week's ECB meeting. US industrial production will be the most important release. After a long deterioration, the manufacturing PMI is now promising a turnaround. Consumers are also feeling relatively upbeat. Meanwhile in Europe, the trade surplus has been hit by the stronger euro and the weak global demand.
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Editor’s Picks /
12 April 2016 at 14:09 GMT
Bloomberg
The International Monetary Fund cut its forecast for global economic growth this year to 3.2% from a 3.4% projection it gave in January and warned that slow growth has left the world economy more exposed to negative shocks and raised the risk of stagnation, Bloomberg News reported. The IMF also trimmed its forecast for growth in 2017 to 3.5% from 3.6%, the news agency said. "Growth has been too slow for too long,” IMF chief economist Maurice Obstfeld said in remarks prepared for a news conference, according to Bloomberg. “There is no longer much room for error.” The weaker outlook comes just before finance ministers and central bankers from around the world are due to gather in Washington this week for spring meetings of the IMF and World Bank, as well as a Group of 20 session.
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Article /
26 February 2016 at 14:15 GMT
Blogger / MoreLiver's Daily
Finland
This G-20 meeting starting this weekend in Shanghai is yet another international get-together that will not solve anything. Either things must get much worse so that the "Neins" change their view – or they must be walked over.
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Article /
27 January 2016 at 14:30 GMT
Head of Editorial Content / Saxo Bank
Denmark
The World Economic Forum that concluded last weekend in Davos saw world leaders, business magnates and intellectuals offer a great many recommendations for weathering the storm that appears set to come. But were the proposals for our benefit or theirs?
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Editor’s Picks /
07 January 2016 at 9:42 GMT
The Guardian
The risk of the global economy being battered by a “perfect storm” in 2016 has been highlighted by the World Bank in a flagship report that warns that a synchronised slowdown in the biggest emerging markets could be intensified by a fresh bout of financial turmoil, The Guardian's Larry Elliott writes. The Bank said the possibility that Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – the so-called Brics economies – could all face problems simultaneously would put in jeopardy the chances of a pick-up in growth in the coming year.
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06 January 2016 at 22:19 GMT
CNBC
Weak growth among major emerging markets will weigh on global expansion in 2016, according to the latest report from the World Bank, with advanced economies solely responsible for a modest increase in global activity. Holly Ellyatt writes according to the World Bank's "January 2016 Global Economic Prospects" report, economic growth in 2016 would pick up to a 2.9% pace, from 2.4% in 2015, despite weakness in emerging market economies. While global economic growth was less than expected in 2015 amid a decline in commodity prices, flagging trade and episodes of financial volatility, the outlook for the coming year hinged on how developed economies performed.
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09 December 2015 at 6:03 GMT
CNBC
If stock market volatility, slowing economies, and low commodity prices were not enough of a problem for East Asia, many countries in the region now have to worry about losing as much as 15% of its working-age population by 2040, according to the World Bank. Saheli Roy Choudhury writes that in a report released Wednesday, the World Bank said ageing population and low fertility rates are to blame as 36% of the world's population over 65 currently lives in East Asia. That's 211 million people and it is projected to rise over time.
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Article /
02 October 2015 at 11:30 GMT
Managing Partner / Spotlight Group
United Kingdom
The International Monetary Fund will meet in Peru next week and its concerns appear bound to mirror those of world markets.
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