I posted it because I found the "Urgent" humorous. It ran across my mind that the announcement was late rather then "urgent".
I read what ever looks interesting as the RT headlines show up on my screen. The following is another opinion from a different part of the world.
NW
Terrorist Attack to Raise Poverty By 15 Million in 2002
Berlin, Germany, Nov 26, 2001 (Financial Standard/All Africa Global Media via
COMTEX) -- The number of people living in absolute poverty will increase by
between five and 15 million in 2002. The revised estimates by the World Bank
came about as a result of the negative economic effects of the September 11
terrorist attacks in the United States of America.
The World Bank's preliminary estimates of the impacts of the attack on
developing countries were made known recently by Dr. Uschi Eid, parliamentary
state secretary, Federal Ministry of Economic Co-operation and Development,
Germany, and newly appointed special assistant on African matters to chancellor,
Schroder, at the 6th international business forum in Berlin, Germany. It said
because of the setbacks in growth, the number of people living in absolute
poverty will be higher. The bank said also that additional 20,000 to 40,000
children under the age of five will die as a result of the economic impact of
the terrorist attack.
The World Bank also said that "growth rates must clearly be corrected
downwards," because some sectors, such as tourism have suffered tremendous
setbacks. Also, the risk surcharge for the developing countries' borrowing
activities has substantially increased, meaning that debtor countries like
Nigeria will have to pay more for their loans.
The World Bank also said that the terrorist attack has led to a decline in world
market prices for many agricultural raw materials, thus endangering the foreign
exchange receipts of most developing countries.
It is also expected that foreign direct investment will not reach this year's
level of $168 billion. Instead, it has been estimated to fall to about $150
billion to $160 billion.
Eid said the September 11 incident has led to a muted development of the world
economy and decelerating of globalisation. For countries like Nigeria which
depend heavily on foreign exchange income and foreign capital as well as nurse a
huge debt burden, this declaration might mean greater unemployment, lesser
income, lesser capital and of course falling short of gross domestic products
(GDP) and general growth projections. It will also mean greater poverty, weaker
national currency and fall in general standard of living.
The fears of global recession arising from the effects of the September 11
incident has led the European Bank and Bank of England to cut interest rates as
a way of encouraging borrowing and reflating the world economy through greater
business and investment activities. But the effects of these measures have yet
to be positively noticed even in the developed economies. The feeling of most
participants at the international business forum is that creditor nations may
come harder on debtor countries like Nigeria in 2002.
by Eugene Olewuenyi
Copyright Financial Standard. Distributed by All Africa Global Media(AllAfrica.
om) |
