Category: Top stories: Global

JAMAICA has dropped four places to rank 95 out of 132 countries recording its third year of decline in the annual competitiveness index by the World Economic Forum (WEF).

THE Bank of England kept its key lending rate at a record low level of 0.50 per cent for the eighteenth month running yesterday, as data showed Britain’s recovery from recession is stalling.

The global economic recovery could be slower than expected but another recession remains unlikely — especially if governments don’t overdo their spending cuts, a leading international economic body said yesterday.

Last week I indicated that consumer demand is essential for growth in any economy; and this is whatever market system is in place. In 2008 I had indicated that stagflation was the greatest risk that the economy faced, and still faces.

Bolstered by the success of policy reforms, inflation targeting and economic performance that came within projected levels, the Governor of the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) Brian Wynter yesterday reiterated the Central Bank’s commitment to economic stability

INTERNATIONAL Monetary Fund (IMF) representative Gene Leon says Jamaica is rebounding from the global recession.

The central bank on Thursday remained upbeat that the Jamaican economy is on the route to recovery, saying that it could even record growth of one per cent this fiscal year.

FINANCE minister Audley Shaw on Wednesday delivered a glowing report card on Jamaica’s economy which he said was in a stable condition with most of the macro economic targets being achieved as outlined in the letter of intent to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

THE Federal Reserve announced Wednesday that it will buy US$18 billion worth of government debt in a bid to jumpstart the economic recovery.

WITH two months to go in the budget year, the US federal deficit is on pace to come in just under last year’s record high in an election year when government spending has drawn voter ire.

THE US trade deficit widened sharply in June to the highest level in 20 months on increased imports from China, triggering fresh fears of a slowdown in the world’s largest economy.