Friday, June 30, 2006

WTO Faces Crucial Test as Time for Talks Running Low


WTO Faces Crucial Test as Time for Talks Running Low
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Moscow Times
28 Jun 2006

GENEVA — The WTO is back on the ropes this week.

It either revitalizes struggling global trade talks or risks the collapse of a five-year effort to liberalize global commerce in a way that would add billions of dollars to global economic output and provide poorer countries with new means for developing their economies.



More than 60 ministers are expected in Geneva for World Trade Organization negotiations starting Thursday — the largest gathering since a failed conference in Hong Kong in December. They are mandated to hammer out long-standing differences on the sensitive issue of opening up their markets to farm and manufacturing imports.



But previous deadlines for WTO members to commit themselves to removing trade barriers have come and passed, always with new excuses for inaction and new... read more...

Monday, June 26, 2006

Global growth strong central bankers say (Toronto Star, 26 Jun 2006, Page C4)


Global growth strong central bankers say

Toronto Star
26 Jun 2006

BASEL, SWITZERLAND—
Interest rate hikes should help put the world economy on a sustainable growth path as inflationary expectations intensify, the head of the International Monetary Fund said yesterday. IMF Managing Director Rodrigo Rato, attending a threeday meeting of about 100 central bankers, said growth in the global economy was strong and should remain near 5 per cent this year and next despite monetary tightening by leading central banks.



“Monetary policy is becoming less accommodative and that is, I think, a welcome step that will make the overall macroeconomic framework more sustainable, but nevertheless will demand that markets and investors and consumers adapt themselves to higher interest rates,” Rato said. “The overall view of the global economy is one of strength,” he said on the sidelines of the annual general meeting for the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), the bank to the world’s central banks. The BIS plans to unveil its annual health report on the global economy and financial system today on the third and final day of the world’s largest gathering of central bankers.



Markets are likely to take their cues from the report on... read more...