Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Strategies & Market Trends : Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: RealMuLan who wrote (20871)	1/9/2005 6:34:08 PM
From: RealMuLan	Respond to of 116555

Bankers alarmed for dollar Reuters Monday, January 10, 2005 BASEL, Switzerland Central bankers, joined by commercial counterparts and financial regulators from around the globe, met Sunday to discuss ways to ensure smooth economic growth amid concerns over huge U.S. deficits that have plagued the dollar. . They gathered as the head of the International Monetary Fund warned that the U.S. budget deficit was "truly excessive." . Writing in the Italian newspaper La Stampa, Rodrigo Rato, IMF director general, also said that some European countries needed to loosen labor regulations to bolster the regional economy and that Japan should capitalize on the restructuring the government has undertaken. . "America must resolve the problems linked to its budget deficit, which is now truly excessive," Rato wrote. . The two-day Basel meeting, held at the Bank for International Settlements, will review the need for cooperation among bankers and watchdogs as cross-border financial ties intensify. . The dollar has been under pressure in the past two years because of the huge U.S. current-account deficit, which is above 5 percent of its gross domestic product, and federal budget deficit. . Finance Minister Hervé Gaymard of France called on Washington to halt the slide in the dollar's value. . "For us the dollar's slide is something that is very worrying," Gaymard told Europe 1 radio in an interview. "I hope the Americans will finally understand they no longer have any interest in this situation continuing, let alone getting worse." . Gaymard added that the Paris Club of creditor nations, which is to meet on Wednesday, had agreed to suspend debt payments for countries affected by a tsunami disaster on Dec. 26. . "We will propose a moratorium on the debt," he told Europe 1, referring to France. "The Paris Club countries accept this. We have consulted them." . Finance ministers of the Group of 7 leading industrialized countries said Friday that they had agreed to freeze the debt repayments of countries hit by the tsunamis and would work with the Paris Club and other creditors on arranging how. . For the global economy, signs are emerging the expansion is losing steam after a robust 2004. The Japanese recovery is looking shaky, British growth is slowing and in the euro zone, domestic demand has failed to revive. . Thus at the start of 2005, the United States is the principal purchaser of manufactured imports and, with many Asian countries, again the biggest driver of the world economy. . Worldwide growth topped 4.6 percent in 2004, its best in over 30 years. Growth is expected to exceed 4 percent this year, despite risks from a further decline in the dollar and rising energy costs. . Toshihiko Fukui, the governor of the Bank of Japan, said the Basel meeting would discuss a wide range of issues including the outlook for the global economy. For Japan, the second-largest economy, he painted an optimistic picture. . "I think the outlook is not so bad," Fukui said. "I am always cautiously optimistic." . But he warned that foreign-exchange shifts "could be a risk, and we are watching them carefully." . iht.com