22 September 2008
For Personal Use Only

• Author: Glenn Somerville and David Milliken
• Source: Reuters News

WASHINGTON/FRANKFURT, Sept 22 (Reuters) - U.S. allies on Monday spurned entreaties from Washington that they enact large-scale financial bailouts, saying their banks were not exposed to the same level of reckless lending that put the American economy at risk of a deep recession.

While some European central banks offered more funding for stressed financial markets and Japan said it would offer dollar liquidity, finance ministers from the Group of Seven rich nations, who consulted by phone, issued only guarded promises to cooperate in efforts to keep market turmoil in check. (more…)

Filed by Amadeus Domaradzki under Global Financial Crises, International Financial Architecture Reform, Financial Supervision, Corporate and Public Governance, Exchange Rate Management and Monetary Policy, Macroeconomic Policy, Investment and Competition Policy

28 August 2008
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• Source: Nikkei Report

TOKYO (Nikkei)–With the dollar plunging and the global financial markets teetering on the brink of crisis in March, authorities in the U.S., Europe and Japan had crafted a contingency plan to jointly shore up the greenback, The Nikkei learned Wednesday.
(more…)

Filed by Anita Li under Global Financial Crises, Exchange Rate Management and Monetary Policy

7 August 2008
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• Author: ANGELA BARNES
• Source: The Globe and Mail

Investors searching for sanctuary in these brutal global markets might want to take a gander at the Middle East as an area to wait out the turmoil.
(more…)

Filed by Anita Li under Global Financial Crises, Exchange Rate Management and Monetary Policy, Energy and Nuclear Safety

29 July 2008
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• Source: The Press Trust of India Limited

Marathon talks to hammer out a global trade pact collapsed tonight after the U.S, India and China failed to reach a deal over measures to protect farmers in poor countries .

In a tense split that could delay any global agreement on trade liberalisation for several years, top negotiators of a core group of seven nations including India, US, EU, China and Brazil fought to avert a collapse of tortuous talks over nine days to salvage the floundering Doha Trade round. (more…)

Filed by Ozlem Yucel under Global Financial Crises, Exchange Rate Management and Monetary Policy

25 July 2008
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• Author: Eric Beauchesne
• Source: Vancouver Sun

Lagging business investment, falling consumer confidence and a worsening trade performance are darkening the outlook for Canada’s economy, separate reports warned Thursday. (more…)

Filed by Sarah Cale under Exchange Rate Management and Monetary Policy, Multilateral Trade

24 July 2008
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• Source: Europolitics Energy

The European Union’s finance ministers have agreed to publish oil stocks data on a weekly basis, announced the French EU Presidency at the conclusion of the Ecofin Council, on 8 July in Brussels. They agreed “to improve the transparency of management of oil stocks, in particular with a political agreement on weekly publication of data on European stocks of oil products,” French Minister Christine Lagarde told a press conference.
(more…)

Filed by Anita Li under Global Financial Crises, Financial Supervision, Corporate and Public Governance, Exchange Rate Management and Monetary Policy, Energy and Nuclear Safety

24 July 2008
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• Source: Canada NewsWire

TORONTO, July 24 /CNW/ - Canada is a laggard compared to other Western countries when it comes to business investment per worker, a bellwether measure of future prosperity for Canadians, according to a study released today by the C.D. Howe Institute. This underperformance is troubling since providing workers with state-of-the-art tools and equipment helps preserve their competitive edge, raises incomes and reduces environmental stress, says the report, “New Tools for a Richer, Greener Future: Why Canadian Workers Need More Robust Business Investment.”
(more…)

Filed by Anita Li under Global Financial Crises, Exchange Rate Management and Monetary Policy, Investment and Competition Policy

17 July 2008
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• Author: Greg Robb
• Source: MarketWatch

The International Monetary Fund issued on Thursday a downbeat forecast for the global economy for the second half of 2008, amid concerns about inflation, particularly in emerging markets.
(more…)

Filed by Anita Li under Global Financial Crises, Exchange Rate Management and Monetary Policy

17 July 2008
For Personal Use Only

• Source: US Fed News

The White House’s Office of the U.S. Trade Representative issued the following fact sheet:

The economics are clear: trade liberalization, combined with pro-market, developmental domestic reforms, enhances the economic growth potential of developing countries.
(more…)

Filed by Anita Li under Global Financial Crises, Exchange Rate Management and Monetary Policy, Development

17 July 2008
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• Author: Erik Berglof and Raghuram Rajan
• Source: Financial Times

Finance ministers of the Group of Eight leading economies have commissioned a study on the role of financial market speculation in recent oil price rises. In India, the regulator recently suspended trade in futures markets for several commodities, blaming speculators for price rises. The global credit crisis has made the financial sector vulnerable to populist attacks. The greatest casualty may be financial development.
(more…)

Filed by Anita Li under Global Financial Crises, Exchange Rate Management and Monetary Policy, Energy and Nuclear Safety

14 July 2008
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• Source: European Pensions & Investments News

What could be better than a luxurious stay at the G8 Hotel? Does anyone else notice our great leaders munching on lobster and caviar while they arrive at the summit in their private jets? And to add insult to injury, they lecture us on carbon emissions and pretend to be capable of cutting oil and food prices. (more…)

Filed by Sarah Cale under Global Financial Crises, Exchange Rate Management and Monetary Policy, Multilateral Trade, The Environment, Climate Change

13 July 2008
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• Source: Mist News

Inflation is the worlds greatest economic threat today and is out of control in some emerging economies, IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn said on Wednesday.
(more…)

Filed by Anita Li under Global Financial Crises, Exchange Rate Management and Monetary Policy

11 July 2008
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• Source: Omaha World-Herald

Leaders of the world’s largest industrial countries have completed their annual get-together known as the G-8 summit. It’s notable that the leaders showed little interest in putting together any coordinated plan to boost the value of the U.S. dollar. (more…)

Filed by Sarah Cale under Exchange Rate Management and Monetary Policy

11 July 2008
For Personal Use Only

• Source: News Press

Chancellor Angela Merkel is extremely satisfied with the results of the G8 summit. The leading industrial nations aim to halve emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050. This year alone, Germany will be giving Africa 600 million euros for rural development. And the dialogue with emerging economies has proved its worth. (more…)

Filed by Marianne Madeline Lau under Global Financial Crises, Exchange Rate Management and Monetary Policy, Development, Climate Change

11 July 2008
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• Source: Omaha World-Herald

Leaders of the world’s largest industrial countries have completed their annual get-together known as the G-8 summit. It’s notable that the leaders showed little interest in putting together any coordinated plan to boost the value of the U.S. dollar

The dramatic decline in the dollar is, of course, one of the most important developments in the world economy in the last few years. Since 2002, the dollar has fallen by an average of nearly 30 percent (more…)

Filed by Marianne Madeline Lau under Exchange Rate Management and Monetary Policy, Macroeconomic Policy

11 July 2008
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• Source: Reuters News

TOKYO, July 11 (Reuters) - Japan’s top financial diplomat said on Friday that the Group of Seven rich countries’ stance on currencies has not changed since April, when they expressed concern about sharp fluctuations on foreign exchange markets. (more…)

Filed by Sarah Cale under Exchange Rate Management and Monetary Policy

10 July 2008
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• Author: Krishna Guha
• Source: Financial Times

Inflation is in danger of “getting out of control” in some emerging economies, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, has told the Financial Times.
(more…)

Filed by Anita Li under Other, Global Financial Crises, Exchange Rate Management and Monetary Policy, Development, Energy and Nuclear Safety

10 July 2008
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• Author: ERIC BEAUCHESNE
• Source: Montreal Gazette

Some easing of world oil prices would be in the best interests of the Canadian economy, reducing inflation pressures at home and abroad and energizing the oil-importing economies of Canada’s trading partners, especially the United States, a Toronto economist argues.
(more…)

Filed by Anita Li under Global Financial Crises, Exchange Rate Management and Monetary Policy, Energy and Nuclear Safety

8 July 2008
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• Author: Malcolm Foster
• Source: Associated Press Newswires

RUSUTSU, Japan (AP) - Leaders of the Group of Eight economic powers warned Tuesday that surging oil and food prices could undermine world growth but that the global economy would ultimately be resilient.

In a communique released after a morning discussion about economic issues, the leaders called on petroleum suppliers to boost production and refining and to increase investment in oil exploration and output over the medium term. (more…)

Filed by Amadeus Domaradzki under Global Financial Crises, Exchange Rate Management and Monetary Policy, Multilateral Trade

8 July 2008
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• Source: BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific

SAPPORO, Japan, July 8 (Xinhua) - The leaders of China, India, Brazil, South Africa and Mexico Tuesday reaffirmed their commitment to a stable and orderly international financial system and called for a just, open, reasonable and non-discriminatory trade system.

In a declaration issued at the end of their group meeting held here Tuesday, the leaders said the global economy continues to expand, but at a slower rate than in previous years. (more…)

Filed by Amadeus Domaradzki under Global Financial Crises, Exchange Rate Management and Monetary Policy, Multilateral Trade

8 July 2008
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• Author: Daniel Rook
• Source: Agence France Presse

Eight of the world’s most powerful leaders called Tuesday for efforts to cool sizzling oil prices, warning soaring fuel and food costs were a threat to world economic growth.

The Group of Eight rich nations said it was ready to take action to cushion global growth from runaway energy costs, but stopped short of announcing concrete steps on the second day of an annual summit. (more…)

Filed by Amadeus Domaradzki under Global Financial Crises, Exchange Rate Management and Monetary Policy

8 July 2008
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• Source: Hindustan Times

NEW DELHI, India — Leaders of G8 countries - the world’s wealthiest economies - on Tuesday expressed “strong concerns about the sharp rise in oil prices,” but stayed short of recommending concrete measures to tide over the crisis.

On the second day of their meeting in the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, the leaders reviewed the state of the world economy and said the recent surge in food and oil prices posed “a serious challenge to stable growth worldwide.” (more…)

Filed by Amadeus Domaradzki under Global Financial Crises, Exchange Rate Management and Monetary Policy

6 July 2008
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• Author: Yoo Cheong-mo
• Source: Yonhap English News

President Lee Myung-bak will leave for Japan on Tuesday to attend the annual G8 summit of major industrialized countries which is expected to focus on global countermeasures against climate change and skyrocketing oil and raw material prices, the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said Sunday.
(more…)

Filed by Anita Li under Other, Global Financial Crises, Exchange Rate Management and Monetary Policy, Climate Change

6 July 2008
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• Author: Jeremy Pelofsky
• Source: Reuters News

U.S. President George W. Bush said on Sunday the American economy was not growing as quickly as he would like and that his administration supported a strong U.S. dollar policy.
(more…)

Filed by Anita Li under Exchange Rate Management and Monetary Policy

6 July 2008
For Personal Use Only

• Source: Trend News Agency (Azerbaijan)

Leaders of the Group of Eight (G8) industrialized nations will agree during their summit in Hokkaido to stockpile grains to better cope with future food crises, sources said. The proposal would require each G8 nation to store specific amounts of grains and release them into the market in a coordinated effort to stabilize grain prices when necessary. The plan will be included in a special document on the global food crisis to be adopted during the G8 summit at Lake Toyako scheduled to start Monday, diplomatic sources said. The creation of the food stockpile system was agreed upon at a meeting of top officials of G8 nations preparing for the summit meeting. The system is modeled after the International Energy Agency’s program for stockpiling crude oil in preparation for an energy crisis. Some grains, such as wheat, which cannot be stored for a long time, will be replenished to maintain the allocated stockpile amounts, according to the plan.
(more…)

Filed by Anita Li under Global Financial Crises, Exchange Rate Management and Monetary Policy, Multilateral Trade