By Jose Antonio Ocampo – Two troubling features of the ongoing economic recovery are the depressed nature of world trade and the early revival of international global payment imbalances. Estimates by the International Monetary Fund and the United Nations indicate that the volume of international trade in 2010 will still be 7% to 8% below its 2008 peak, while many or most countries, including industrial nations, are seeking to boost their current accounts.
Latest forecasts from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) predict Chile and Peru will lead Latin America’s growth in 2011 with an expansion of 6% each. The IMF released its World Economic Outlook Report on Wednesday, upping Chile’s projected growth from 4 to 4.7%.
Greece has formally asked for the activation of an EU-IMF financial rescue package to help pull the debt-ridden economy out of its crisis. It had hoped that just the promise of EU support, agreed last month, would have been enough to reassure markets and help its recovery.
Economy Minister Amado Boudou said that the Argentine Government “will not accept any conditions” on its economic policies, allegedly rejecting an eventual revision of its accounts by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Brazil, Latinamerica’s largest economy and leading Mercosur partner is poised to grow 5.5% this year, almost a whole percentage point more than the previous forecast in January, according to the International Monetary Fund “World Economic Outlook” released in anticipation of the IMF and World Bank annual assembly this weekend in Washington.
Latinamerican countries with a greater link to China such as Chile, Brazil and Peru are moving out of the crisis faster and stronger according to a World Bank report which underlines the increasing significance of the Asian giant for the region.
Latin America and the Caribbean have “weathered the global downturn comparatively well” and are now recovering at a “robust pace,” the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Wednesday.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has urged developing powers in Asia and Latin America to guard against the kinds of asset bubbles that caused wealthier economies to plunge into recession in the last two years.
A stronger Chinese currency is “critical” for the good of the global economy, Brazil's central bank chief Henrique Meirelles said on Tuesday, joining a chorus of critics of China's foreign exchange policy.
The International Monetary Fund has warned that an over reliance on capital controls could derail the current global recovery. Although admitting that it may be a good idea for one country to apply controls on capital inflow, as the levy imposed by Brazil, “it could encourage too many others in the region to follow suit”.