" Thought of the day " Once upon a time there was a PM who thought Canada should widen up it's economic horisons by looking for new markets in Europe and Asia . To this day our exports are about 80% oriented to the US , they were about 75% in those days ... Now if you had a business how would u feel about relying on a single customer ? Having other customers does'nt mean u don't respect your main customer it means more latitude and freedom
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Wednesday, April 22, 2009
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news.html
GDP outlook to be revised to 3% contraction
In a rare move, Japan makes a forecast of negative growth, producing the worst real GDP figure since the end of World War II.
In a rare move, Japan plans to slash its initial projection for real gross domestic product to around minus 3 percent for fiscal 2009 in light of the global economic slump, government sources said Tuesday.
In December, the government projected zero growth for the year that began April 1. But now it is expecting a large contraction because of the damage the U.S. recession is inflicting on Japan's export-based economy, the sources said.
Real GDP growth is expected to be negative for the second consecutive year, and the revision will forecast Japan's worst real GDP number since the end of the war, exceeding the 1.5 percent contraction in fiscal 1998.
The government does not normally revise its projection for real GDP to show negative growth, or review its outlook at the start of a new fiscal year when it is unsure how effective stimulus measures will be. But the step itself signals it is convinced that negative growth of about 4 percent to 5 percent will be inevitable because of the deep U.S. recession unless special fiscal steps are taken, the sources said.
The revised figure was apparently calculated by anticipating that its new stimulus package would offset the contraction by about 2 percentage points, the sources said.
GDP is the total value of goods and services produced domestically. Real GDP figures are adjusted for price and seasonal variations.
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http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/
China to launch more stimulus investment in Q2
Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-04-21 19:22
Extract from the article
The newspaper said the second-quarter investment might be a larger amount than previous ones, as the government hoped to consolidate foundations for a possible economic recovery with more investment and the summer is a good time for construction work.
"It's good to cash in pledged investment as early as possible, because the economy is under deeper downward pressure in the first half," said Li Huiyong, a Shenyin & Wanguo analyst. ...
China, Russia ink oil cooperation agreement
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-04-21 11:41
UBS: No change in China expansion plans
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UPBEAT TRICHET SEES 2010 RECOVERY
By Keiichi Hirose and Noriyuky Susuki
Kyodo News
Source . : Japantimes.com
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
"In a number of economies, including in Europe, we see that some surveys are demonstrating that things are not deteriorating more," Trichet said in a recent interview in Tokyo. "But that does not change the fact that 2009 is a very difficult year."
While the world needs to tackle the "evaporation of confidence" amid the financial crisis, an economic recovery could come "in the course of 2010," helped by lower oil and commodity prices, coupled with the resilience of major emerging economies, Trichet said.
His comments came as the ECB is trying to shore up the struggling euro-zone economy, which the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development expects to shrink 4.1 percent this year.
The central bank trimmed its key interest rate a quarter percentage point earlier this month to an all-time low of 1.25 percent since the launch of the single European currency in 1999.
Trichet repeated his earlier remarks that ECB will decide on further unconventional measures at its next policy meeting May 7, without elaborating.
With interest rates close to zero, other central banks are going beyond the conventional method of cutting interest rates as such policy tools at their disposal are limited.
To buoy the private credit market, the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England have begun purchasing government bonds, and the bank of Japan is buying commercial paper from financial institutions to provide liquidity.
Trichet said he welcomes U.S. Fed Chairman Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner saying a strong dollar is in the interest of the United States.
"One further rate cut is not excluded," the ECB head said, but added bringing it to zero is "not at all something we would consider appropriate."
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Meanwhile in Canada bank of Canada lowers it's prime rate to 0.25% untill summer of 2010 to encourage banks to lower longer term rates . They also say Canadian Economy to shrink by 3% in 2009 .
