Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They
AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German
Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who
By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an
Navigation
Primary Navigation
Home
Singapore
Asia Pacific
World
Business
Entertainment
Sports
Technology
Secondary Navigation
Top Stories
Full Coverage
Most Popular
Photos
Search
Search:
IMF sees recession in advanced economies in 2009
AFP - Friday, November 7
WASHINGTON (AFP) - - The International Monetary Fund on Thursday forecast advanced economies would contract next year, for the first time since World War II, and called for government spending to battle the global financial crisis.
In sharp downward revisions to its economic projections made less than a month ago, the IMF said the advanced economies were now seen shrinking by 0.3 percent in 2009, instead of the prior estimate of 0.5 percent growth.
It lowered its global economic growth forecast by 0.8 point to 2.2 percent.
"Prospects for global growth have deteriorated over the past month, as financial sector deleveraging has continued and producer and consumer confidence have fallen," the IMF said.
"In advanced economies, output is forecast to contract on a full-year basis in 2009, the first such fall in the post-war period," the 185-nation financial institution said in an update of its October World Economic Outlook (WEO) report.
The IMF said the downturn in advanced economies would be "broadly comparable in magnitude" to recessions in 1975 and 1982, but that "a recovery is projected to begin late in 2009."
Next year almost all the advanced economies would contract: the United States (0.7 percent), Japan (0.2 percent) the eurozone (0.5 percent) and Britain (1.3 percent). Only Canada would resist the downturn, with 0.3 percent growth.
"Our forecasts are based on current and currently announced policies. It is likely that policies will be more expansionary than we assume," IMF chief economist Olivier Blanchard said at a news conference.
"We'll advocate at the G20 a global fiscal expansion," Blanchard said.
IMF managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn is to attend a finance chiefs meeting of the Group of 20 rich and emerging countries this weekend in Sao Paulo, ahead of a G20 summit convened by US President George W. Bush on November 15 in Washington.
Asked which countries would have the most scope and the most need for fiscal action, another IMF economist, Joerg Decressin, said the United States, "Europe and especially Germany," and China.
The IMF made more modest downward revisions to its 2008 forecasts, projecting world growth at 3.7 percent, down 0.2 point, and advanced economies at 1.4 percent, down 0.1 point.
The IMF said it now sees far more difficult conditions worldwide since its October 8 WEO report as a result of a global credit crunch that has hit banks and financial markets.
"Markets have entered a vicious cycle of asset deleveraging, price declines, and investor redemptions," the IMF said.
"Beyond the direct impact of the financial crisis, activity is increasingly being held back by slumping confidence," it said.
"As the financial crisis has become more entrenched, households and firms are increasingly anticipating a prolonged period of poor prospects for jobs and profits. As a result, they are cutting back on consumption, notably of durables, and investment."
The IMF said the United States, the epicenter of a financial crisis that erupted in August 2007 after the collapse of the subprime mortgage market, would still show positive growth for 2008, but at a tepid rate of 1.4 percent, with the second-half contraction offsetting growth in the first six months of the year.
Emerging and developing countries remained the growth engines for the global economy, but at a slower rate of 5.1 percent in 2009.
The IMF slashed its 2009 forecast for developing countries in Asia by 0.6 percentage points to 7.1 percent.
"Countries in East Asia -- including China -- generally have suffered smaller markdowns" than other economic powers, it said, forecasting China's growth at 8.5 percent in 2009.
"Their financial situations are typically more robust, they have benefited from improved terms of trade from falling commodity prices, and they have already initiated a shift toward macroeconomic policy easing."
Email Story
IM Story
Printable View
Blog This
Recommend this article
Average (0 votes)
Sign in to recommend this article »
Most Recommended Stories »
Enlarge Photo
A news ticker displays the latest financial news in New York City's Times Square, October 27, 2008. The International Monetary Fund has forecast advanced economies will contract next year, for the first time since World War II, and called for government spending to battle the global financial crisis.
Most Popular – Top Stories
Viewed
Among Obama's next challenges: his own security
Obama's grandmother, family 'rock', dies on election eve
ECB, Bank of England slash interest rates
Russian leader blasts US, vows to deploy missiles near EU
Obama wins US election, to become first black president
View Complete List »
Search:
Home
Singapore
Asia Pacific
World
Business
Entertainment
Sports
Technology