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World economy 12th January 2015

China: Winners and losers of faster reforms in 2015

ZURICH | UBS analysts | We expect reforms to accelerate in 2015. As the government moves toward systematic “rule by law” and the property downturn persists, more space will open up and pressure increase for economic reforms to accelerate. We see three themes for China’s reforms this year: growth support, risk containment and rebalancing. In other words, reforms that can unlock new sources of growth and bolster domestic demand, reduce economic and financial risks, or diminish/remove structural imbalances should advance most.

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World economy 9th January 2015

Where now for the euro?

MADRID | By Sean Duffy | The euro hit a fresh nine-year low on Thursday after the publication of a letter from Mario Draghi which indicated that the central bank would likely purchase sovereign bonds in a bid to ward off a deflationary bout which is holding back growth on the continent. The euro was trading at $ 1.17540 against the greenback on Thursday.  Friday saw a recovery to $ 1.18177. The single currency is currently hovering around levels seen back when the currency was launched in 2002, at €1.16.

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World economy 6th January 2015

Japan: An Economy in Need of a Crisis?

Japan’s descent into recession has prompted questions of what the country must do to right itself — and many agree that “Abenomics” will not be enough. Most Japan watchers and economists, and even Abe himself, say that to restore sustainable growth, Japan needs sweeping deregulation and structural reforms. But pushing through such changes is proving daunting, despite Abe’s pledges to “drill deep into the bedrock” of Japan’s vested interests.

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World economy 2nd January 2015

Greece: New Year brings past woes

MADRID | By JP Marín Arrese | As Greece plunges again into wild uncertainty, following a call for snap elections, once again the Eurozone shivers at the prospect of a full-fledged crisis. Even if the flight for safety has reduced the bund rates to fresh lows, no other economy has come under attack for the time being. But should Syriza emerge as the winning party in the January polls, the truce might be over.

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World economy 1st January 2015

2015 Outlook: The year of Equities, the US and Spain

MADRID | By Julia Pastor | The designs of the markets are unfathomable. Mario Draghi might forget the QE idea and the British housing sector might collapse. These are some of the Saxo Bank’s ludicrous forecasts for 2015. A year ago they claimed there would be a default in the Russian debt and the collapse of the oil price, and they were right. Nonetheless, most of the experts that talked to The Corner agree on a scenario for 2015 led by the ECB’s quantitative easing, the oil price reduction and low interest rates.

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World economy 30th December 2014

Oil futures bet on a price below $70

MADRID | By Ana López-Varela | “The OPEC will not cut production even if the oil barrel drops to $20.” The intentions of the Saudi Oil Minister, Ali al Naimi, are stark. But, how will the OPEC’s decision of maintaining the production quota at 30 million barrel per day affect the markets? And which are the forecasts that market watchers have regarding the oil? In general, they expect the prices to increase. However, futures traders remain more conservative.

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World economy 29th December 2014

Japan enacts new stimulus plan by €24 bn

MADRID | The Corner | The Japanese government approved last Saturday a new stimulus program to inject up to ¥3.5 billion (€23.8 billion or $29.1 billion), which will help the less developed regions of Japan and the households with subsidies, vouchers for goods and other similar measures. The government of Japan expect this new stimuli plan to boost the GDP by 0.7%. Despite the many critics to the so-called Abenomics program, the measures are still on-going as the advisor to the new government William H. Saito explained in an interview for The Corner.