Taking advantage of its growing working-age population could help accelerate South Africa’s growth to 5.4 percent a year and double per capita incomes by 2030, according to the South Africa Economic Update released by the World Bank today. The report explores how the projected growth can be attained by creating a virtuous circle of job … Continue reading
Kenya, like many other African countries, has a dualism issue in the structure of its economy that informs the patterns of the economic development of the country. Although there are several forms of dualism active in the Kenyan (and African) economy, the article will focus on formal vs. informal dualism. The formal sector of the … Continue reading
By Pablo Druck, Nicolas Magud, Rodrigo Mariscal The strength of the US dollar can impact the economic activity in emerging economies in various ways. This column argues that appreciation of the dollar mitigates the impact of real GDP growth in emerging markets. The main transmission channel is through an income effect. As the dollar appreciates, commodity … Continue reading
China is moving to a “new normal” of slower yet safer and more sustainable growth. This involves giving the market a more decisive role in the economy, says the IMF in its annual assessment of the economy. China’s growth is expected to be 6.8 percent in 2015, down from 7.4 percent last year. This slowdown, … Continue reading
“Greece’s economy grew in the second quarter in a surprise surge just before the standoff between the government and its creditors forced officials to impose capital controls,” Bloomberg reports. Greece’s GDP grew 0.8% in Q2, according to The Hellenic Statistical Authority. The growth came as a surprise to Bloomberg-surveyed analysts, who were expecting to see a … Continue reading
In the past 12 months investors traded $18.2 trillion worth of ETF shares, according to data from the New York Stock Exchange and Bloomberg, a senior ETF analyst for Bloomberg, Eric Balchunas, reports. The amount is three times what is was 10 years ago and is now more than the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP), … Continue reading
By IMF Russia’s economy is expected to contract by 3.4 percent in 2015, although growth should return in 2016. Medium-term growth prospects are modest due to slow progress in implementing structural reforms, according to the IMF’s latest economic health check. The dual external shock of lower oil prices and geopolitical tensions are key factors exerting … Continue reading
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank recently raised the red flag over debt, stating Kenya must put a tight lid on it to keep its economy on a steady growth path. According to the Business Daily, Kenya’s debt load crossed the 50 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) mark to stand at … Continue reading
China, the world’s second-largest economy, could be the next country to join the zero interest rate club, according to Oxford Economics. “There is a risk that Chinese short-term rates will approach the zero ‘lower bound’ by 2016,” said Adam Slater, an economist at Oxford, in a research note on Tuesday. Oxford’s Slater believes that China’s economic … Continue reading
Off the coast of Guyana, in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean, may lie oil and natural gas riches worth $40 billion dollars, or roughly 12 times more valuable than the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP), Bloomberg reports. The discovery made by Exxon Mobil is likely to hold over 700 million barrels of oil, and crude production might … Continue reading