Despite Global Financial crisis, Emerging Countries are Confident

by M. Ulric Killion 

World Bank Building, Washington, D.C.; Photo/Wikimedia Commons (Public Domain). 

According to the World Bank, February 24, 2009—”Senior economic and central bank officials from emerging market countries who participated in a February 12th World Bank video conference on the global economic crisis said that despite falling trade volume and slowing GDP growth, their financial systems and international reserves remain strong, in contrast to the crises of the late 1990s.”

This includes the economy-performance expectations of Asian and Latin American economies, including China. As announced by the World Bank, “While officials from China, India and Brazil confirmed a recovery in capital inflows and international currency reserves in recent months, they have also taken measures to stimulate their economies, while also delivering social programs to cushion the impact of job losses. For example, Yang Jinlin, of China’s Asia-Pacific Finance and Development Center, noted that China’s GDP growth dropped from 10 to 6.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008, largely due to a 10-percent drop in exports during the same period. This has wiped out jobs for 23 million migrant workers in China, he said. It has prompted the Chinese government to reduce interest rates five times, and to launch a stimulus package worth four trillion yuan over the next two years. These measures are aimed at preventing a hard landing for the Chinese economy, he said. He acknowledged that the shift from an export-driven to a domestic-demand-driven economic model will take a long time.”

During the discussions of policymakers and analysts, at the third in a series of Global Dialogues as a Response to the Global Economic Crisis organized by the World Bank Institute (WBI), which delivers knowledge and learning services to developing countries, Guillermo Calvo (Columbia University) observed “that while the U.S. is suffering a drop in aggregate demand combined with a credit crunch, most emerging markets are faring better.”

References: 

World Bank- News & Broadcast: Emerging Countries’ Officials Show Confidence Despite Growth Slowdown, February 24, 2009.

世界银行, 新闻动态, 尽管增长放缓，新兴国家的官员仍表现出信心, 2009年2月24日.

Copyright © Protected - All Rights Reserved M. Ulric Killion, 2009.