The IMF/World Bank meetings taking place in Tokyo this week are a crucial opportunity for policymakers to discuss kick-starting the stalled global growth, dealing with commodity and food price volatility, progress in development and poverty reduction.
Emerging Markets reporters are covering the meetings live for the daily print newspaper distributed at the meetings. You will find their articles, as well as exclusive commentary written for Emerging Markets by decision makers and leading economists, on emergingmarkets.org.
This is a live blog tracking the most important moments of the meeting. Visit us regularly to check for updates. All times Tokyo unless otherwise specified.
WEDNESDAY, October 10, 2012
12:00 – The Fed’s Yellen said that if QE3 boosts US growth, everybody will benefit, in the context of complaints by some emerging markets officials that inflows of hot money are pouring in their countries. She said the quantitative easing measures must be unwound in a timely manner so as to take inflation into account.
11:00 – Not all areas of the world economy are slowing. In fact, some emerging markets are doing so well that they are borrowing money at costs sometimes lower than those in eurozone countries outside of the core ones and credit in those emerging markets is booming? How sustainable is the rally? What about debt in Africa? Emerging Markets will have the stories.
10:00 - The dire state of global growth is high on the agenda. The IMF has downgraded its forecasts; economists and investors alike are worried that things will be worse. World GDP is set to slow to 3.3% next year according to the IMF and economist Carl Weinberg, from High Frequency Economics, believes this is “really bad,” noting that figures between 5% and 7% are more normal. Our reporters Barry Wood and Elliot Wilson are looking into the growth issue.
09:00 - The island dispute between China and Japan is deepening. The rift has opened so wide that China’s central bank governor and finance minister will not attend the Tokyo meetings, although PBOC governor Zhou Xiaochuan was scheduled to give the keynote IIF address on Friday and the prestigious Per Jacobsson Lecture on Sunday. Emerging Markets’ Anthony Rowley will have more on that story.
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