Category: TRENDS ON THE GLOBAL ECONOMIC FRONT

The world’s economy will grow 5.6 percent this year, the World Bank has forecast, up 1.5 percentage points from the bank’s forecast six months ago. It would be the fastest pace of global growth in 80 years, according to the bank. The world’s economy will be pulled along by strong recoveries in a few major...

Although the European Central Bank (ECB) has increased its forecast for both economic growth and inflation in the Eurozone this year, it will continue to buy government and corporate bonds through August at “a significantly higher pace than during the first months of the year,” the bank said last week in a public statement quoted...

Since 2011, capital investments in energy and mining have fallen by 40 percent, according to Schroders, a British asset manager. As a result, producers lack the ability to quickly boost production of aluminum, cement, and other raw materials the world’s recovering economy is now demanding in near-record amounts. For example, each year from 2011 through...

Prices around the world are climbing, putting a brake on the global economic recovery and raising fears that everything from savings accounts to the job market will suffer long-term damage. Already this year, copper, houses, iron ore, and lumber have set record prices. Corn, soybeans, and wheat have climbed to eight-year highs and oil has...

A recent outbreak of COVID-19 cases (100) in southern China threatens global trade because major ports have closed down terminals to keep the outbreak contained. The Financial Times reported that the terminals in question are in Shenzhen, Nansha, and Shekou, and pointed to a steep drop in ships berthing at these facilities. “It’s a question of...

New waves of COVID infections across parts of Asia, where vaccine campaigns have barely begun, are slowing production of raw materials and finished goods, driving up prices, fueling inflation, and slowing the global recovery, according to the Wall Street Journal. An outbreak in the Yantian, a district in Shenzhen, has slowed exports from the container...

China’s central bank has raised the proportion of foreign currency commercial banks must hold from 5 percent to 7 percent in an attempt to slow the rising value of the renminbi, China’s currency, which edged up last week to its highest value against the dollar in three years. The renminbi has gained 11 percent on...

The private equity firms Blackstone Group, Carlyle Group, and Hellman & Friedman have agreed to pay $34 billion to take control of the family-owned Medline company, one of the largest U.S. manufacturers of medical supplies. The deal, which Medline announced on 5 June, is the largest buyout involving a cadre of private equity firms since...

As part of HSBC’s promise to “move the heart of the business to Asia,” the London-based bank has split the management of its Asian division. Hong Kong native David Liao, who manages HSBC’s Asia-Pacific banking operations and previously ran the bank’s efforts in China, will now devote himself to building business on the mainland. HSBC’s...

Workspace, a London-based company renting out flexible office and light industrial spaces, saw its first-quarter rents fall 13 percent during Britain’s 2021 health and financial crisis, the company reported. The loss follows a year in which Workspace lost 10 percent of its tenants and 10 percent from its property values, which slipped to £2.3 billion....