IMF Upgrades Asia's Growth Outlook

Thursday, the International Monetary Fund raised Asia's economic outlook saying that the region is rapidly rebounding from the depth of the global crisis.

In its latest regional economic outlook, the Washington-based IMF said it expects Asia's gross domestic product to grow 2.8% this year and by 5.8% next year. In May, the lender had forecast Asia's growth to decelerate to 1.3% in 2009 before rebounding to 4.3% in 2010. The new forecasts are short of the 6.7% average growth recorded over the past decade.

"The primary driver of Asia's recovery has been a progressive return towards normalcy following the abrupt collapse in global trade and finance at the end of 2008," the IMF report said. According to the report, the other key driver of Asia's recovery has been the region's rapid and forceful policy response.

"The "green shoots" of recovery appear more firmly rooted in Asia than in other regions," the report said. "Now Asia is leading as the world pulls out of recession."

While raising its world economic outlook on October 1, the IMF said the world economy is expected to grow 3.1% next year, more than the 2.5% growth forecast in July. The lender expects the Japanese economy to contract 5.4% this year and to grow by 1.7% next year. Australia's growth is forecast to touch 0.7% this year and 2% next year. New Zealand's economy is predicted to shrink 2.2% in 2009 and to expand by 2.2% next year.

China is likely to log the fastest growth in the region, 8.5% this year and 9% in 2010. India is set to follow, with growth projected at 5.4% in 2009 and at 6.4% next year. Meanwhile, South Korea's economy is predicted to shrink 1% before expanding by 3.6% next year.

At the same time, the IMF today revised its outlook for Singapore to show a 4.3% expansion in 2010 after a 1.7%contraction this year. In its world economic outlook, the organization had forecast Singapore GDP to rise 4.1% in 2010 after falling 3.3% this year.

The IMF said Asian policymakers consequently face two major challenges - to maintain policy stimulus until the recovery becomes self-sustaining and to devise a way to return to sustained, rapid growth in a new global environment. It also said Asia will need to be willing to live with smaller current account surpluses and more flexible exchange rate management. Moreover, it said output in the large G7 economies is forecast to grow by 1.3% next year, recouping only half the contraction estimated for 2009, because private demand in these countries remains constrained by the legacy of the crisis.

Asia's V-shaped recovery may be the sharpest on record and may turn into a square-root-shaped recovery soon, DBS Bank economist David Carbon said in a note on Wednesday. "That is, a sharp drop, a sharp rise, and then a palpable turn sideways." The DBS economist expects growth to be back to "normal" for most of the countries in the region by the first quarter of 2010.

Carbon also expects key central banks in the region to hike rates in the first quarter. The bank forecasts India to hike rates as early as January and South Korea in the first quarter. China is expected to start pushing rates up in the second quarter as well as allow its currency to appreciate against the U. S. dollar.

Earlier in the month, Australia became the first G-20 central bank to raise key interest rate after the global financial crisis. India's central bank became the second in the group to start exiting from an easy monetary policy, though it retained key interest rates.

News are provided by InstaForex.

The dollar surged ahead versus the euro Tuesday morning in New York as the Federal Reserve prepared to meet amid growing anxiety that the economic growth seen over the summer may not be sustainable without continued support measures.

With the US consumer still on edge as unemployment approaches 10 percent, many analysts are pointing out that while the third quarter figures on the economy are somewhat encouraging, organic growth is unlikely until the jobs situation improves.

The safe haven dollar has managed recover versus the euro over the past week, prompting the rally in global equities to run out of steam.

The dollar jumped to a monthly high of 1.4623, rising more than a penny even as traders considered news that the European Commission expects the euro area economy to emerge from recession in the second half of 2009.

However, the economy is set to contract 4% for 2009 as a whole.

Joaquin Almunia, Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs said, "The EU economy is coming out of recession. This owes much to the ambitious measures taken by governments, central banks and the EU that have not only prevented a systemic meltdown but have kick-started the recovery. However, the road ahead is a challenging one."

The dollar firmed up a bit versus the yen, moving back above the 90 mark. The pair has been choppy over the past few weeks, with the buck finding a measure of support after testing a 1995 low in October.

Meanwhile, the dollar was steady versus its Australian counterpart even after the RBA raised its interest rate for the second straight session. The dollar rose to .8920 versus the aussie, but leveled off to .8965 approaching 8 am ET.

In October, Australia became the first G-20 member nation to hike its benchmark interest rate since the onset of the financial crisis in late 2008.

The dollar hit a weekly high versus the sterling, rising to 1.6260 before hitting resistance. On a longer term basis, the pair has been moving between 1.5700 and 1.6700 for months.

All eyes will be on Washington, DC tomorrow as the Fed wraps up its latest policy meeting. While Ben Bernanke and company are universally expected to maintain the key interest rate near zero, traders will be paying close attention to the accompanying statement, looking to see whether rates will be left alone "for some time to come," as the central bank has recently assured.

Looking at today's economic calendar, the government is releasing September factory orders at 10 am ET. Economists are looking for a September gain of 1 percent.

News are provided by InstaForex.

Dear IndiTraders,
In this topic we would like to provide Forex breaking news from InstaTV Forex-tube. InstaForex-TV channel provides currency traders with the recent tidings about rate exchange movements and also to make forecasts how they will affect the currency pairs in the coming future. If you trade using the intraday trade method or fundamental analysis, the newscast from our channel would be especially useful for you.

__________________
Best regards,
official representative
InstaForex Companies Group

Dear Svetlana,

First of all

Your post has a huge White Vaccum area. I guess you will have to use the embed link option from the video source you are trying to post.

__________________
Learning Basics of Forex
"It was never my thinking that that made the big money for me. It always was my sitting."

Dear Kittu,
Thank you much for your friendliness.
And sorry, I've copied uncorrect link.

__________________
Best regards,
official representative
InstaForex Companies Group

__________________
Best Regards,
official representative
InstaForex Companies Group

__________________
Best regards,
official representative
InstaForex Companies Group

Consumer prices in Japan continued to fall at a rapid pace in October, official data showed on Friday, giving credence to the deflationary concerns of the government. However, a surprise decline in unemployment, along with household spending data put more of a positive, yet momentary, spin on things for the beleaguered economy.

Core consumer prices, which exclude fresh food from the price basket, dropped 2.2% in October from a year earlier, but slower than a 2.3% fall in the previous month, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication reported. Economists had expected a 2.4% decline. General consumer prices dropped 2.5% year-on-year in October, after a 2.2% fall in prices in each of the three preceding months.

On November 20, the Cabinet Office declared that the economy is in deflation, the first official announcement of deflation since mid-2006. In its monthly economic report for November, the government said, "Recent price developments show that the Japanese economy is in a mild deflationary phase." The report said the economy is picking up, but faces difficult situation such as a high unemployment rate.

Last week, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development warned against lingering deflation in the economy and said an increase in the central bank's bond purchases would help in battling deflation. According to the Bank of Japan's forecast in October, the CPI excluding fresh food, would fall 1.5% in fiscal 2009 and would drop 0.8% in fiscal 2010 and a 0.4% decline in fiscal 2011.

On a monthly basis, overall consumer prices dropped 0.4%, and excluding fresh food, prices fell 0.1%.

BNP Paribas economist Azusa Kato said that the slowing in the rate of decline in the core CPI was simply the result of a 'technical error', namely the waning base effect from surging petroleum product prices through August of last year. Excluding this, price deflation actually broadened in October, he pointed out.

Meanwhile, the CPI in the Tokyo area dropped 2.2% on year in November and fell 0.2% on a monthly basis. The core CPI fell 1.9% on a yearly basis, but slower than a 2.3% decline anticipated by economists. Month-on-month, core consumer prices were down 0.1%.

"Despite the economic recovery that has been driven by fiscal stimulus and rising exports to emerging economies, downward pressures on prices have hardly abated and the supply-demand gap remains quite large," Kato said. Even after the disappearance of techinical factors around February, BNP Paribas expects that a minus inflation rate of more than -1% should take root for a while, as deflationary expectations are taking hold at the consumer and corporate level.

On a more encouraging note for the economy, unemployment levels continued to fall against expectations. The unemployment rate stood at a seasonally adjusted 5.1% in October, down from 5.3% in the previous month, the Ministry of Internal Affairs & Communications reported. Economists had expected the unemployment rate to rise to 5.4%. The jobless rate declined for the third consecutive month.

The total number of unemployed persons declined to 3.36 million from 3.52 million. At the same time, the number of employed persons decreased to 62.44 million from 62.64 million in the prior month, while total labor force strength slid to 65.82 million from 66.19 million.

In other news, real household spending in Japan grew 1.6% year-on-year in October following the 1% increase in the previous month. Economists had expected real household spending to rise 0.7%.

Household spending excluding that on housing, purchase of vehicles, money gifts and remittance climbed 0.7%. Spending on medical care surged 11.4% annually in October, while spending on transportation & communication rose 4.7%. On the other hand, household spending on education declined 4.6%.

Spending among workers' households increased 0.6% from the previous year, the same rate of growth as in the preceding month. In nominal terms, total household spending dropped 1.3%.

Retail sales figures for October were also released on Friday, with sales falling 0.9% year-on-year to JPY 10.83 trillion in October, slower than the 1.3% decline in the preceding month. Economists had expected sales to drop 1.6%. This marks the fourteenth straight month in which retail sales have fallen on an annual basis.

"The outlook for consumption is not bright," BNP Paribas economist Hiroshi Shiraishi said. "Employee income, the key to consumption, is unlikely to improve anytime soon as businesses continue to cut costs in order to cope with chronically low operating rates." BNP Paribas expects GDP-based consumption, which increased at a solid pace in the second and third quarters to start to lose momentum from the final quarter of the year.

News are provided by InstaForex.

__________________
Best Regards,
official representative
InstaForex Companies Group

__________________
Best regards,
official representative
InstaForex Companies Group

__________________
Best Regards,
official representative
InstaForex Companies Group