Fiscal Study

The US global merchandise trade and current account deficits rose to $857 billion in 2006. This amounted to about 6.5 per cent of our GDP, twice the previous record of the middle 1980s and by far the largest deficit ever recorded by a single country1. The deficits have risen by an annual average of $100 billion over the past four years, Institute for International Economics reports:

China’s global current account surplus soared to about $250 billion in 2006, more than 9 per cent of its GDP. Its trade surplus has doubled again in the first quarter of 2007, suggesting that its current account deficit will exceed $300 billion in 2007—the largest ever recorded by any country. China has become by far the largest surplus country in the world, recently passing Japan and far ahead of all others. Its foreign exchange reserves have also passed Japan’s to become the largest in the world and now exceed $1 trillion, an enormous waste of resources for a country where most of the huge population remains very poor.

Read it all.

Posted by fiscalstudy at 6:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

China is on course to catch up with the United States and join the front ranks of world economic powers, but that is little cause for concern even among Americans, according to a global survey, AFP reports:

But the same poll showed there is generally as much distrust of the United States as there is of China to "act responsibly" in world affairs.

Read it all.

Posted by fiscalstudy at 6:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono offered Malaysian businessmen wider, fairer and mutually beneficial cooperation, ANTARA News reports:

He made the offer at a meeting with dozens of Malaysian businessmen grouped in the Malaysia-Indonesia Business Council, which was also attended by Indonesian businessmen.
On the occasion the president also conveyed his Indonesia`s appreciation to Malaysian businessmen who had made a contribution to the Indonesian economic development.

Read it all.

Posted by fiscalstudy at 6:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

DURING the campaign, his opponents called him “dangerous” and “brutal”. They even threatened riots if he won. But France's new president, Nicolas Sarkozy, has in his first week disarmed critics with an artful mix of political inclusiveness, policy creativity and symbolic renewal, The Economist reports:

It is hard to overstate the impact of the choice of Bernard Kouchner, a man of the left and a hugely popular humanitarian champion, as foreign minister (see article). Had Mr Kouchner been lured into a minor ministerial job in a government of the right, the bridge-building symbolism would still have been clear. By giving him foreign affairs, France's public face to the world, Mr Sarkozy has deftly undercut his leftist opponents.

Read it all.

Posted by fiscalstudy at 11:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The US economy appears set for a soft landing, according to the OECD, but it warned that the troubled sub-prime mortgage sector still poses a major risk, AFP reports:

"Output has slowed to below its potential growth rate, reflecting a dramatic contraction in house building," the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said in its twice-yearly report on the global economy.

Read it all.

Posted by fiscalstudy at 12:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Gazprom said that its proved and probable reserves, excluding its oil arm, were valued at $182.5 billion, The Moscow Times reports:

Gazprom's reserves amounted to 20.7 trillion cubic meters of natural gas, 659 million tons of gas condensate and 291 million tons of oil at the end of 2006, as audited by DeGolyer & MacNaughton using Society of Petroleum Engineers standards, Gazprom said in a statement.
Proven reserves climbed 12 percent to 18.2 trillion cubic meters from the previous year, while proven and probable reserves changed little, Interfax reported Monday, citing a Gazprom eurobond prospectus.

Read it all.

Posted by fiscalstudy at 3:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Indonesia`s trade with China has experienced positive growth with its value having increased at an annual average rate of 18.6 percent in the past five years (2001-2006), according to an Indonesian diplomat, ANTARA News reports:

Mohammad Oemar, deputy chief of mission at the Indonesian Embassy in Beijing, said Indonesia`s primary exports to China so far were chemical substances, timber products, pulp and paper, rubber and fertilizers.
In the meantime, Indonesia`s imports from China included semi-finished iron and steel products, spareparts, machines, electronics, data processing machines and various kinds of fruit.
Oemar said currently China was the fifth biggest export destination for Indonesian goods and the third biggest source of Indonesia`s imports.

Read it all.

Posted by fiscalstudy at 2:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Russia will not allow indebted state companies to default, Economy Minister German Gref told reporters, Reuters reports:

"We have all the possibilities not to allow defaults of state controlled companies," Gref told reporters. Russian state controlled companies such as Gazprom (GAZP.MM) and Rosneft (ROSN.MM) have been borrowing heavily abroad to go on a spending spree to expand their businesses.

Read it all.

Posted by fiscalstudy at 1:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

China’s central bank widened its daily trading band against the dollar for the renminbi to 0.5 per cent from 0.3 per cent, while raising interest rates and banks’ reserve requirements, Financial Times reports:

The widening of the trading band is sure to fuel expectations that China will allow the renminbi to rise at a faster rate as its politically sensitive trade surplus soars. However, People’s Bank of China insisted the move was just a further step in its gradual reform of its currency exchange regime and that it should not be seen as prelude to a revaluation.

Read it all.

Posted by fiscalstudy at 9:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)